- cctalk - classiccmp.org

by Mark Kahrs

Jon Elson's take hits home. A 780 was delivered and VMS was running. We installed 4.1BSD and it ran fine until it crashed. Field service insisted we needed a full set of RS-232 wires in our cable. Still crashed (surprise!). Switched to VMS, still crashed after a while. Local field service couldn't find it. The big guns flew in from Maynard. First day: Couldn't find it. Second day: "What, what's that wire doing there? Have a wire-wrap tool?". Removed wire from backplane. Boots, runs. Engineer flies home.

2 hours, 36 minutes

11
14
0 0

VAX 86x0 schematics

by P Gebhardt

Dear list members, I was wondering if anybody is aware of VAX 86x0 schematics having survived the product life cycle within DEC? I searched the web extensively but could not find any hints on this. It seems that DEC never published such details as schematics for the successor of the VAX 11/78x systems, not even on microfiche, maybe due to the macrocell array implementation (just a guess). All I could find is that there were illustrated parts list on microfiche. However, maybe Hewlett Packard handed DEC-internal documents over to a museum such as the CHM? Or a former designer still have schematics in their archives? Any pointers would be greatly appreciated! Best regards, Pierre ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.digitalheritage.de

23 hours, 16 minutes

11
23
0 0

Repair procedures

by Paul Koning

Side tracking slightly from the "VAX 86x0 schematics" discussion into changing field service procedures over the years: I remember some fairly hairy cases in the 1970, when FS engineers had to be way more capable than board swappers. 1. DEC RS64 fixed head disk was behaving badly, making more noise than expected. Machine was not under contract. FS tech took it apart, diagnosed bad bearing. To save the customer (college physics department) a pile of money, he took it to Appleton Electric Motor Co., where they found a suitable bearing, pulled off the bad one, pressed a replacement on. Jim reinstalled the motor into the drive, worked great. 2. Same college, different machine: RF11 drive was showing "clock track failure". Diagnosis: drive is not spinning. Same tech. Jim took the drive apart on a desk in the computer center, noticed a head had crashed and melted, hot-glueing itself to the platter so the motor was blocked. This machine was under warranty, so he ordered a pile of parts: full set of heads, motor, platter, plus tools. Replaced the motor, replaced all the heads and aligned them, replaced the platter, and formatted the timing track. The manual for that formatter was not exactly intellegible... 3. Different university, CDC 6500 mainframe, occasional data corruption in one of the mass memory transfer paths. After lots of test code added to the application (PLATO system), the tech concluded he knew the answer. Opened up one of the cabinets, lifted up a massive bundle of wire to reach a spot where one of those wires was "punched in" to a module connector, and re-punched the pins of that wire. Repeat at the other end of that wire. Run tests, problem fixed. In that machine, there were a dozen or so chassis, with up to 750 or so modules, each with 28 signal pins, most of them interconnected to elsewhere with twisted pair wires terminated in tapered pins that were pressed into place. It was a surprisingly reliable system but we learned it wasn't 100%, and it took quite some skill and perseverance to find which of those tens of thousands of wire connections was the failed one. paul

1 day, 12 hours

2
1
0 0

VCF West 2025 Hotel Block is available!

by Jeffrey Brace

VCF West 2025 Hotel block is available! https://vcfed.org/2025/07/03/vcf-west-2025-official-hotel-available-now/ Take care! Jeff Brace \

1 day, 16 hours

1
0
0 0

Q-bus, PDP8, VAX items

by Paul Anderson

As many of you know I have been trying to finish organizing my Unibus parts and finish building several systems for years. Other than time and my health I don't have enough space. I would like to sell, at reasonable prices, all of my q-bus parts which include 400 - 500 boards, about a dozen boxes, and a lot of spare parts. I have BA11-M, BA11-N, BA11-S and a few BA23 boxes left. If you have an original 11/03, I have a dozen or so H780 power supplies, which are very hard to find. They are also used in the Vax 11/780 front end, the RKV11-D and possibly a few other items. I can test them if I have time, but that might take awhile. I'm also taking offers on some of my 8-E and all of my 8-A items. I will entertain offers on the VT14 and all of the PDP 14 industrial controller parts. I have a few Vax 3000, 5000, and a few others along with parts including memory. Those of you who have been here know I have a ton of DEC and DEC-compatible parts, but no one has seen everything. I have brand new disk heads, tape drive heads, alignment packs, and literally tons more. I went through over 50 backplanes a few weeks ago looking for a few specific ones. Some Unibus items are also going. Probable some 11/05s, 11/34s, 11/83 and/or 84s and a lot of options and boards. So if you need or are thinking about DEC items, feel free to send me a wish list off list. I prefer phone calls and will send my number upon request. I was never great at typing and I'm getting worse. Oh- I also trade for US and foreign coins and currency. Thank, Paul

1 day, 23 hours

7
20
0 0

DEC music board

by pontus

Hi Paul I see that you are clearing out QBUS board. I've been looking for a "DIGITAL Q BUS music board" for a while. It is a board without M-number as it was never sold. It is a simple dual board with two AY-3-8192 chips on. There are pictures available, if you want I can send them to you. I live in Sweden, I hope we can work out shipping if you have the board. Regards, Pontus.

2 days, 4 hours

2
2
0 0

DEC items: update II

by Paul Anderson

I was digging through DEC compatible boards for someone and realized I should have posted them. I have over 100 dual, quad, hex and VAX boards from the usual suspects- ABLE, CMD, DIGITAL PATHWAYS, DILOG, EMULEX, MT, PLESSEY, REMEX (paper tape interfaces for 8s and 11s). Included are core memory boards for 8s and 11s.

2 days, 10 hours

1
0
0 0

Databook Library to be scrapped

by Charles Dickman

A small data book library at my work is going to be cleaned out soon. It is mostly common stuff from 1995 and older. I don't believe there is anything unique. You can see a some pictures of the shelves here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jdJnUdRPvzvRzeTp6 I can't sell them and I won't ship them. If you see anything that should be saved I will squirrel it away with the intention of scanning and getting it online someday. -chuck

2 days, 12 hours

5
5
0 0

The Big Rewrite (American Pie parody)

by Chris Elmquist

Apologies if this is a dupe here but I don't remember seeing it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCGu5Z_vaps :-) -- Chris Elmquist

2 days, 23 hours

2
1
0 0

DEC items: update

by Paul Anderson

Front panels: I have both 8-A, KY11-LA and -LB for 11/04, /34, one each 11/70 RDC remote diag con, corporate (blue/blue), and regular. I think there is an 11/40 with a 11/35 silkscreen. I have to go through the 8-E, F, and Ms. The last dual extender is on hold, one quad is left, a few hex, a comet (730 or 750 I think), and a 780. Also a few 11/04 and 34 in BA11-L, maybe a -K, and a few 11/83s. I think most of these are systems, not just boxes. The printers include LA12, LA34, LA36, and LA120 and parts for most. There are several hundred non-DEC boards, and a lot of core memory. I'm still looking for the rest of the simms. At some point, I'll be cutting the fingers off of boards no one wants. If you are interested in any qbus or unibus boards for chips, let me know. I can bring items to VCFMW to drop off there. There are a lot of people who drive in from different parts of the country who might be willing to work something out for some gas money. Thanks, Paul

3 days, 5 hours

7
10
0 0

Re: Q-bus, PDP8, VAX items

by Alan Frisbie

Paul Anderson <useddec(a)gmail.com> wrote: > If you have an original 11/03, I have a dozen or so H780 power supplies, > which are very hard to find. They are also used in the Vax 11/780 front > end, the RKV11-D and possibly a few other items. Wow, someone who actually knows about the RKV11-D!!! I've had DEC people visit my place, see the RKV11-D, and proclaim that "DEC never made that!". Since you know what it is, can you tell us anything about how it came to be, and why it is so little-known? I bought mine back in 1978 or so from Newman Computer Exchange for my 11/03. I later added the missing wires (and chip) to enable 18-bit addressing when I got an 11/73. I haven't used it since I moved to Oregon six years ago, but it would take just a few hours to remove the RK05 head locks and plug things in, assuming that all the capacitors are still good. It came in handy to prove to the RSX development group that RSX-11M version 2.0 would run on an 11/73. :-) Alan Frisbie

1 week

3
2
0 0

Is there a more modern replacement for paper tape punch/reader

by ben

Now that I have my 18 bit retro computer working, I am thinking of adding classic IO, like paper tape. Sadly I am a few decades too late. Is there anything out there to replace a punch/reader used as 70's i/o? Any good mag tape (cassete tape) replacements? I would love a tiny 9 track mag tape toy sized if they made one, like the wall hanging PDP8's. On wish list, a flex writer or TTY video display replacement, ie overstrike and underline in 2/3 size VT100 case. Ben. https://www.instructables.com/23-Scale-VT100-Terminal-Reproduction/

1 week

22
77
0 0

Re: VCF West August 1-2, 2025 - Mountain View, California

by John Foust

At 09:18 PM 3/11/2025, Jeffrey Brace via cctalk wrote: >VCF West is back on August 1 & 2, 2025 at the Computer History Museum in >Mountain View, California. > >We're partnering with the Sacramento Amiga Computer Club and AmiWest to >celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Amiga and other special guests. I'm considering attending this Amiga 40th anniversary celebration. I was invited to speak on a panel on the topic of the experience of early Amiga code development. Who else might attend? - John

1 week

4
3
0 0

EPSON 6110 Tape Punch Interface

by Martin Bishop

I have a salvaged Epson 6110 tape punch on the bench, also it's interface card from a Data Dynamics Zip 30. The 6110 is the shiny paper tape punch which was very common, at front left, on TTY etc in the 70's and into the 80's I'm working on reverse engineering the Epson 6110's connector / interface, it's a "centronics" 24 pin. Does anyone have or know of a spec for the Epson interface, or manuals for a system using it. The basics are plain enough 24V power, ground connections, 8b+s, all low side drivers (54SN463's), one output (to a 7414) I presume Ready_n, and another two inputs I guess Enable_n and Advance_n (or maybe Reverse). RevEng should get me there, documentation would ensure no possibility of magic smoke - excluding bad components. Bring up plan is: - apply 28 V and scope "connector" - button up to suitable processor; ie interpose LoSide drivers between processor's LVTTL and the punch VMTiA Martin

1 week

1
0
0 0

DEC VT11/VR17, BA350/BA356, "S" box boards

by Paul Anderson

Just a quick note/ update from my earlier post. If you're looking for an option, please send me the board #. Example:A DLV11 can be a M8017, M8027, M8028, or M8043 if my memory is working tonight. My boards are basically in numeric order, and it takes time to convert option # to part # and I don't want to ship anyone the wrong part. I have a few VT11's I will finally sell, along with a (believe it or not, long story...) VR17 which now has screen rot. A few dozen BA350 and BA356 boxes and selection of power supplies and drives. 50 or so "S" box handle boards including M3108, M3116, M3127 DESQA, M3134, M5976 KZQSA, M7493, M7740 KLESI, M8086 LPV11, M8020 DPV11, M7516 DELQA, M7504 DEQNA, M7504, M7554 CPU, Non DEC and more. Also found a pile of DECMUXII , DECMUX300, decservers and that type of stuff. And something everyone needs, SC08s!!! Please excuse any typos or messed up part #s. Thanks, Paul

1 week, 1 day

1
0
0 0

VCF West 2026 - Speaker List

by Jeffrey Brace

Speaker List VCF West 2025: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/ Show info: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/ Ticket info: https://connect.computerhistory.org/events/1ffceb98-f556-df49-f011-42475680…

1 week, 1 day

1
0
0 0

VCF Montréal 2026 Speaker Registration

by Jeffrey Brace

VCF Montréal 2026 speaker registration is open now! https://forms.gle/iGqhMsfu94YcGoLp6 Show info is here: https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/ Les inscriptions pour les conférenciers du VCF Montréal 2026 sont ouvertes ! https://forms.gle/iGqhMsfu94YcGoLp6 Informations sur le salon : https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/ Jeff Brace

1 week, 2 days

1
0
0 0

Looking for IBM System/3 BASIC book

by Steve Lewis

Per the link below, it mentions a reference manual to IBM's BASIC for the System/3 as part number GC34-0001-1 but that no digital copies are known to exist. https://manx-docs.org/details.php/19,11119 I know at VCF East they've been trying to restore one of these. Not sure if any functional system still exists (especially probably not the Model 6 with CRT and disk drive). Anyway, if anyone happens to have the physical manual described above, I'm just curious if in the first few pages was it publication date? (before or after 1970?) Also - since IBM went out of their way to re-use the BASIC from the System/3, does that imply there was never a variation of BASIC written for the IBM 360/370? (asking because from my understanding, the System/3 was a lot more difficult to program and operate -- and yet someone wrote a BASIC interpreter for it). -Steve

1 week, 3 days

12
22
0 0

VCF West 2025 - Exhibit Lineup - Aug. 1 & 2, Mountain View, California

by Jeffrey Brace

Wow! VCF West 2025 Exhibit lineup: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/vcf-west-exhibits/ Show info: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/ Ticket info: https://connect.computerhistory.org/events/1ffceb98-f556-df49-f011-42475680…

1 week, 3 days

1
0
0 0

VCF Montréal 2026 Exhibit Registration

by Jeffrey Brace

VCF Montréal 2026 exhibit registration is open now! https://forms.gle/TKrCy7EyBHubRAdu7 Show info is here: https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/ Les inscriptions pour l'exposition VCF Montréal 2026 sont ouvertes ! https://forms.gle/TKrCy7EyBHubRAdu7 Informations sur l'exposition : https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/

1 week, 4 days

1
0
0 0

VCF West 2025 - Tickets - Aug. 1 & 2 at Computer History Museum - Mountain View, California

by Jeffrey Brace

Get your tickets to VCF West 2025 now! https://connect.computerhistory.org/events/1ffceb98-f556-df49-f011-42475680… VCF West takes place August 1 & 2 in Mountain View at the Computer History Museum. More info here: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/

1 week, 5 days

1
0
0 0

VCF Montréal 2025 Jan 25-26

by Jeffrey Brace

VCF Montréal is coming Jan 24-25, 2026. Reserve your hotel now! https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/vcf-montreal-2026-hotel/ Show updates here: https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/ Le VCF Montréal aura lieu les 24 et 25 janvier 2026. Réservez votre hôtel dès maintenant ! https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/vcf-montreal-2026-hotel/ Consultez les mises à jour ici : https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/

1 week, 5 days

1
0
0 0

eBay strikes again!!

by Bill Gunshannon

Just when I thought eBay couldn't get much stupider... I went out to see if I could find a current going price for PDP-11 Pedestal Boxes as I have a couple I would like to cull from my collection. I came upon this: DEC PDP 11/23 - BC needs Power Supply Repair, NO cards, Vintage DEC History $900.00 If it has no cards, what makes it a PDP-11/23 other than the paint on the front cover? Dead PSU? Looks like a $900 backplane to me. And that is making the assumption that the backplane is actually usable. :-) bill

2 weeks

16
28
0 0

3 VCF's this weekend! Atlanta, Dallas, Australia

by Jeffrey Brace

Wow! There are 3 VCFs this weekend! VCF SE (Atlanta, GA) : https://vcfed.org/events/otherevents/vintage-computer-festival-southeast/ VCF SW (Dallas, TX): https://www.vcfsw.org/ VCF Down Under (Australia) : https://www.facebook.com/events/s/cvce-vcf-downunder-2025-planni/5904082869… Jeff Brace

2 weeks

7
6
0 0

VCF Midwest 20 Pre-Tabling Announcement Announcement

by Jason T

The table request form for VCF Midwest 20 will open at 19:00 CDT next Friday, June 27th. Read the mailing list announcement here: https://list.vcfmw.org/w/TagW1e4K9x4Rl8wpSnorrA (and join the mailing list, too, if you haven't!) -jt

2 weeks, 3 days

1
0
0 0

Bill Atkinson

by Murray McCullough

Bill Atkinson, a true early microcomputer pioneer, ca. 1984+, brought drawing on a computer screen and linking to external files a reality. He will be missed. Murray--

2 weeks, 5 days

8
8
0 0

DEC backplanes

by Paul Anderson

I've been digging through a few shelves of backplanes looking for a specific one for a listmember. Along with the DD11-CK and DKs, I found a RK611 and RH11. I probably have the boards for both. Any interest? Also found a few DDV11-D which I think is a 6x9 hex qbus backplane, but it's been a while. If you need any backplanes (11/84, 11/44) or options (DR11-B, etc) now is the time! Also a lot of core memory and backplanes. Please contact me off list. Thanks, Paul

2 weeks, 6 days

1
0
0 0

Tadpole Sparcbook 2

by Andreas Holz

Hi all, by surprise I got a Tadpole Sparcbook 2 some time ago. Sadly there seems to be almost no documentation available in the net for a Sparcbook 2, neither a technical/service nor a user manual, only for Sparcbook 1 and later models. I do have the following issues: - the battery pack is missing. I found two ressources, e.g. the CHM - but none does have any infos about the battery pack - The external power connector requieres 18V - no problem - After connecting the fitting power the Sparcbook does power up, the display is lit and the unit is trying to boot from the internat SCSI disc. Nevertheless the boot process is failing this is a good sign. - after trying to reboot the unit will be almost dead. While pressing the power on button the LEDs on the left upper side of the display will be lit shortly, but nothing else will happen. - trying to reboot an power on the same as above will happen If I'll keep the unit several weeks/months unpowered the unit will power up again - but of course will be stuck again while trying to boot from disk and the same semidead issues as noted above. I'm suspecting the TOD chip/battery is deads or are there any other sugegstions? Up to today I didn't have a look inside of the unit ... Does any have the manuals hidden in theirs shelves? Best Andreas

3 weeks, 3 days

8
9
0 0

Re: Bill Atkinson

by John

In addition to everything already cited, he developed what is still my favorite dithering algorithm. Atkinson dither was probably optimized more for speed than anything, but I've always loved the look of it, and have even implemented it myself for that reason. R.I.P., sir.

3 weeks, 3 days

1
0
0 0

Re: Tadpole Sparcbook 2

by Adrian Godwin

Tadpole were in Cambridge, weren't they ? https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/ have collected a fair bit of Cambridge history. I haven't found them very willing to search their archives but there may be individuals who have more time available, or they may have a resource problem in putting information online. On Fri, Jun 6, 2025 at 8:28 AM erik--- via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > > Hi Andreas, > > great that there are still some people looking into the > old SPARCbooks from Tadpole. I have got a 3GX up and running. > > > Sadly there seems to be almost no documentation available > > in the net for a Sparcbook 2 > > Yeah, that is really sad. Also do not have got any information! > Just to report from my work on the 3 series ones (which are > probably not to different from the earlier ones): > > Mine works without battery pack, so there is some intelligence > in the battery pack (for power management), but using a power > supply it is working even without that pack! > > > - after trying to reboot the unit will be almost dead. > > While pressing the power on button the LEDs on the left > > upper side of the display will > > be lit shortly, but nothing else will happen. > > Hmm, that sounds strange and I never observed this due to > lost NVram values. But what I observed is the yellow/orange > Tantalum caps going bad in the small power supply piggy back > PCB inside the unit. A short prevents the notebook from > working (and sometimes even some inductors release smoke and > completely destroyong the PCB depending on which cap went > short). > After a longer time powered off, the faulty cap can recover > explaining your observation. Fortunately I had some spare > PCBs and replaced all caps in my live one which works nicely > now... > > Good luck, > > Erik. >

3 weeks, 5 days

3
2
0 0

Re: ASR-33 Help and Parts Needed

by Gregory Beat

START with SIMPLE GREEN. For Old Plastics and Bakelite, I keep Mineral Oil available. Refurbishing the Teletype model 15 https://www.aetherltd.com/refurbishing15.html Teletype model 33 Wiki https://wiki.theretrowagon.com/wiki/Teletype_Model_33 Wayne Durkee, WB1FDW in Vermont is good Teletype 32/33 Resource He still repairs them ! https://www.qrz.com/db/KB1FDW greg, w9gb

3 weeks, 6 days

2
1
0 0

Re: ASR-33 Help and Parts Needed

by donald donaldwhittemore.com

Any fluid you need is probably banned by local, state or federal government. :)

4 weeks

3
2
0 0

ASR-33 Help and Parts Needed

by Mike Katz

I was given an ASR-33 complete with stand, read & punch. This ASR-33 has been modified for RS-232 though a blue perfboard mounted in the connection enclosure (under the cover place where the dialer would be. Is has a DB25 ribbon cable coming off of this board. The perfboard does not have a label on it that I can find. The ASR-33 also has a 3 x 5 conductor rectangular connector coming out of the read of the unit with 6 female contacts installed. I was able to connect the ARS-33 to a VT-330+ at 110B 8-N-2 and send and receive on the teletype. The punch seems to work as well. The reader will "chatter" then the reader is put in the stop position and the tape out sensor is pressed but the sprocket does not advance and the reader pins to not move. Questions: 1. Why the reader is not advancing and the pins are not activating? Could this be a read enable contact not being in the active position? 2. What are the outs of the RS-232 DB-25. Other than TX, RX and GND 3. What are the pin outs of the 3 x 5 rectangular connector. I think this is the current loop and other control signals. Does any any of the items below for sale or have a 3D model I can print: 1. Roll Paper spindle (the spindle that the roll paper spins on) 2. Paper Tape Punch Spindle (the spindle that the paper tape spins on) 3. Paper Tape Chad feed tube 4. Paper Tape Chad Box I will be connecting this to either a PiDP-8/I or a PDP-8/E for now and eventually a PDP-8/L Thank you, Mike

4 weeks, 1 day

10
17
0 0

Tadpole Sparcbook 2

by erik＠baigar.de

Hi Andreas, great that there are still some people looking into the old SPARCbooks from Tadpole. I have got a 3GX up and running. > Sadly there seems to be almost no documentation available > in the net for a Sparcbook 2 Yeah, that is really sad. Also do not have got any information! Just to report from my work on the 3 series ones (which are probably not to different from the earlier ones): Mine works without battery pack, so there is some intelligence in the battery pack (for power management), but using a power supply it is working even without that pack! > - after trying to reboot the unit will be almost dead. > While pressing the power on button the LEDs on the left > upper side of the display will > be lit shortly, but nothing else will happen. Hmm, that sounds strange and I never observed this due to lost NVram values. But what I observed is the yellow/orange Tantalum caps going bad in the small power supply piggy back PCB inside the unit. A short prevents the notebook from working (and sometimes even some inductors release smoke and completely destroyong the PCB depending on which cap went short). After a longer time powered off, the faulty cap can recover explaining your observation. Fortunately I had some spare PCBs and replaced all caps in my live one which works nicely now... Good luck, Erik.

4 weeks, 1 day

1
0
0 0

SWAP MEET IS ON! - UPDATE 6/5/25 - Wall, NJ

by Jeffrey Brace

Swap Meet Update 6/5/25 So the negotiations with the weather gods have been successful! The latest weather forecast shows a 57% chance of rain around 8AM and thunderstorms 5PM or later. So with this, I'm going ahead with the swap meet as planned. Everyone is encouraged to use their best judgment as to their safety in coming to the event. My highest recommendation is to bring a tent that can be anchored with sandbags. Generally a good idea regardless of rain. Also bring waterproof clothing (i.e. raincoats, etc.) If any vendor should feel uncomfortable and needs to cancel, we will refund you, but once you show up, there is no refund. Vendor setup is 7AM General Admission is 8AM More info here: https://vcfed.org/vcf-swap-meet/

4 weeks, 1 day

1
0
0 0

CTOS Ethernet EDL software

by r.stricklin

There is a copy of the Convergent CTOS EDL (ethernet data link / packet driver) for the ETH150 (SMC 8416T ISA ethernet) board on Bitsavers. I am wanting to make use of an SG410P (CTOS EISA Ethernet IOP) but as far as I can tell the EDL archived on Bitsavers is missing the piece(s) necessary for use with an IOP or other supported non-ISA ethernet board. Has another copy of the EDL survived? Can it be made available? It might be the case that it was included as a separate disk in another CTOS networking software package (e.g. TCP/IP, OSI Transport, or LANce). Secondarily, CTOS FTP has ISAM II as a pre-req; Bitsavers has (what appears to be) an update-only disk archived, but no “base” install. I’d be quite interested in finding out if that has survived and could be made available as well. If there’s a more likely mailing list or forum I might also direct my enquiries, I’ll be glad to engage there. Thanks! ok bear.

1 month

1
0
0 0

ComputerVision input devices

by Alan Perry

Does anyone here have or know of ComputerVision CADDStation input devices (e.g., puck, tablet) that ard for sale? I have started restoring the CADDStation Model 32 that has been sitting in my garage for a while but am missing some pieces to get the full experience. alan

1 month

2
1
0 0

RSX11M tape copy

by Peter Ekstrom

Hello all, I have transferred some simh .tap files to my PDP-11/23+ running RSX11M+. There I have tried to use VCP to attach them to a virtual device but I keep getting an invalid record format error. I then realized the simh .tap files most likely aren't organized correctly. If I attach them to TS0 in simh I can work with them. So now I am trying duplicate a tape into a new .tap file created using VCP. I can't for the life of me get it to work though. BRU doesn't support tape-to-tape and FLX doesn't complain but also never completes. Is there a process for tape duplication under RSX? The images were first transferred to my PiDP-11 using ftp in binary mode over TCP/IP. From there I used NFT in image mode and I tried both record and block modes. I have also seen the simh tape tools but there doesn't seem to be a tool to convert a simh file back to what would be on a real tape. Anyone have any information or pointers to get this to work? Thanks! -Peter

1 month

10
18
0 0

UPDATE: Swap Meet in Wall, NJ - June 7

by Jeffrey Brace

Swap Meet Update 6/4/25 Weather The weather on Saturday is being watched closely. A little rain is not concerning, but the thunderstorms are concerning. We will make a final call on Thursday at 10PM about what we will do. We will post updates here: https://vcfed.org/vcf-swap-meet Food Truck The food truck cancelled on us and we can't find a replacement at the last minute. We *may* have some solution to support at least the vendors and volunteers. The general public are on their own. Otherwise we have plenty of vendors signed up with lots of interest. We have been posting daily on Facebook & Instagram to tell everyone about the event. Lots of engagement, interest and excitement. Take care! Jeff Brace VCF/MARCH Fundraising Manager

1 month

1
0
0 0

What was this AT&T SCSI enclosure for?

by Andrew B

I have an AT&T branded SCSI enclosure. Two half-height bays with the drives held vertically (on their sides), with a door that opens to expose one for a tape drive, activity lights labeled hard drive and tape, CN50 connectors, the AT&T beige and brown color scheme I associate with 3B's and 6300 PCs. No model number. Anyone have any idea what this was made for?

1 month

11
23
0 0

ASR-33 Help and Parts Needed - corrected message

by Mike Katz

I was given an ASR-33 complete with stand, reader & punch. This ASR-33 has been modified for RS-232 though a blue perfboard mounted in the connection enclosure (under the cover place where the dialer would be on the right side). It has a DB25 ribbon cable coming off of this board. The perfboard does not have a label on it that I can find. The ASR-33 also has a 3 x 5 conductor rectangular connector coming out of the rear of the unit with 6 female contacts installed. I was able to connect the ARS-33 to a VT-330+ at 110B 8-N-2 and send and receive on the teletype. The punch seems to work as well. The reader will "chatter" then the reader is put in the start position and the tape out sensor is pressed but the sprocket does not advance and the reader pins to not move. Questions: 1. Why the reader is not advancing and the pins are not activating? Could this be a read enable contact not being in the active position? 2. What are the pin outs of the RS-232 DB-25. Other than TX, RX and GND 3. What are the pin outs of the 3 x 5 rectangular connector. I think this is the current loop and other control signals. Does any one of the items below for sale or have a 3D model I can print: 1. Roll Paper spindle (the spindle that the roll paper spins on) 2. Paper Tape Punch Spindle (the spindle that the paper tape spins on) 3. Paper Tape Chad feed tube 4. Paper Tape Chad Box I will be connecting this to either a PiDP-8/I or a PDP-8/E for now and eventually a PDP-8/L Thank you, Mike

1 month

2
1
0 0

TRS-80 BASIC oddity

by Bill Gunshannon

I am going to assume there are other TRS-80 people hanging out here and go ahead and ask this: Has anyone here used the DEFUSRx command? I tried to use it for something I am working on and it didn't work. So, I copied the example program from page 115 of the Model III Disk System Owner's Manual and, guess what, it didn't work either. 150 DEFUSR1 = &H7D00 returns a Syntax Error 150 DEFUSR1 = 32000 works fine. Anybody else ever run into this? I can't believe something as blatant as that could have gone on for all those years. bill

1 month

9
16
0 0

USDC Unibus SCSI Controller

by emanuel stiebler

It is few years that anybody asks, so here it is again: ANYBODY has any manuals for it? On Discord, we have some discussions, I found some of them in my boxes, but nobody has documentation, and no success to get them working. Any chance?

1 month

1
0
0 0

IBM 5100 side scroller (PALM processor)

by Steve Lewis

I've written a "side scroller" program using the IBM 5100's native PALM instruction set. I talked about the 5100 in 2023, and for 2025 I wanted to present something special for its 50th anniversary. I kept getting sidetracked with other projects over the year. But thanks to the IBM 5100 emulator now in MAME, that helped a lot in debugging the program more efficiently. There is much I still don't fully understand about PALM, so I probably do this in the most efficient way, but it does work well. I'm also still working towards restoring a POLY-88 (8080 based system, similar to SOL-20 as far as being S-100 based). Someday I'd like to attempt a similar side-scroller on that platform, to see how the performance compares and if a micro that early could handle it (at 1.8MHz and will need to find 16KB of working RAM- one thing about the IBM 5100, it feels fairly rock solid after 50 years). Unless anyone already has a working 8080-based system and wants to take a stab at this? I'll talk more about the design approach (and use of PALM instruction set) after VCF next month. Here is the YouTube video preview of this scroller in action on real hardware: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRAxKGkXC1I And the Rumble version in case anyone has issues with YT: https://rumble.com/v6tu80h-ibm-5100-vertical-side-scroller-hardware-demonst… If anyone has a 5100 with the "expansion feature" and async card, we're always interested in trying to get old system "online" (through WiModem type devices), or a non-working 5100 is always good for spare parts on the ones that do still work. But one "fabled accessory" of the 5100 is it's carrying case -- which surprisingly was the cheapest item on its price sheet (at $150 new). I've only seen one of these once (in Florida), so they do exist. Or tapes (even later 3M QIC DC6120 are compatible). Cheers, Steve

1 month, 1 week

2
1
0 0

Board repairs?

by Peter Ekstrom

Was there someone on this list who can help repair boards, like the RQDX3s I broke in my H9278? I don't know if it would be too costly, but if not I'd like to restore them to working condition. -Peter

1 month, 1 week

2
1
0 0

Problems with an RQDX3 in an 11/23.

by Peter Ekstrom

Hello to the group, I have been banging my head against a PDP-11/23 where I have an RQDX3 I'm trying to get to work. Actually, I have two RQDX3's but only one at a time. It is configured to the factory CSR, 172150, and it has the latest microcode on it. When I run the XXDP ZRQCH0 formatter I get the following: RQDX3 Disk Formatter Utility UNIT IS Formattable Winchester (RDnn) or Floppy (RX33) Drives RSTRT ADR 145702 DR>STA CHANGE HW (L) ? Y # UNITS (D) ? 1 UNIT 0 Enter controller IP Address (O) 172150 ? What unit do you want to format [0-255] (D) 0 ? Would you like to revector a single LBN only [Y/N] (L) N ? Do you want to use the "AUTOFORMAT" Mode [Y/N] (L) Y ? N ZRQC SYS FTL ERR 00006 ON UNIT 00 TST 001 SUB 000 PC: 105742 Fatal Controller Error During Initialization. ZRQC SYS FTL ERR 00006 ON UNIT 00 TST 001 SUB 002 PC: 105742 Fatal Controller Error During Initialization. ZRQC EOP 1 2 TOTAL ERRS DR> I have been booting XXDP and also RT11 over an emulator TU58. And I have a BDV11 so it has an LTC. I did try downgrading the microcode on the RQDX3 to the previous version, 3. It was 4. But no luck. Am I missing something? This should work with an M8186 CPU board, right? Anyone have any ideas? I haven't yet, but I plan to pop one of these RQDX3s in my 11/23+ and see if it works there. -Peter

1 month, 1 week

3
4
0 0

Re: IBM 5155

by Phill Kennedy

Bill, Please update your email on QRZ.com to a working email address. Thanks Phill, a fellow ham.

1 month, 2 weeks

2
2
0 0

IBM 5155

by Bill Gunshannon

I just managed to score a 5155. Well, soon, it is waiting for me to pick it up at the University where I used to work. It looks to be in really good shape and has been in storage for probably two decades or more. A couple quick question for anyone familiar with this system. Is it likely there is one of those little batteries on it that would now be dead and need replacing before I try to use it? And, also, would this have a floppy controller on it that was capable of reading and writing disks from systems like the TRS-80 with an SD boot track? Inquiring minds want to know. :-) bill

1 month, 2 weeks

7
11
0 0

Comstar Computer Systems System 4 Intel 4004 based Industrial Computer

by Christian Liendo

Back in Nov of 2023 Ed Sharpe asked the following: “Was there ever a COMPUTER using a 4004 that you could really do something or did that finally arrive with the 8008” https://classiccmp.org/mailman3/hyperkitty/list/cctalk@classiccmp.org/messa… I hope to answer that question, or at least spark a discussion. For a number of years now I have been researching this computer called a Comstar System 4 which is based on the Intel 4004. The Comstar Corporation of Minneapolis was a developer of microcomputer control and automation systems and in 1972 released the System 4 microcomputer. Comstar built a general purpose capable computer that could be programmed to do a multitude of tasks but their market focus was industrial automation. Comstar was eventually bought by Warner & Swasey in 1974 to integrate their computers into the Warner & Swasey product line. Warner & Swasey was a huge manufacturer of industrial machines. So they bought Comstar to be their Computer division. In fact it was called " Warner & Swasey Comstar Microcomputer Electronic Products" Warner and Swasey also licensed the Micral N to do the same and we call the Micral N a computer. The Micral N was designed for process control, but we know of it as a computer. Now before anyone argues about if this is a computer or not, I will state the following. It was called a Microcomputer in the ACM titled "Development of a portable compiler for industrial microcomputer systems " It was called a Microcomputer in Electronics Magazine July 11th 1974 It was listed as a Microcomputer in "Auerbach Guide to Minicomputers" April 1976 & Winter 1976 - 1977 It was listed as a Microcomputer in Datamation Magazine Dec 1974 It was called a Microcomputer in "A MICROCOMPUTER BASED SUBSTATION CONTROL SYSTEM" The University of Oklahoma, Ph.D., 1975 Engineering, electronics and electrical Page 90 It was listed as a Microcomputer in the Intel MCS 4 User Manual Feb 1973 page 171 It was listed as a Microcomputer in Electronics Magazine Jan 1973, they promote the 4004 and 8008 and use the System 4 as an example. The reality is this existed, was 4004 based and there were discussions about it in the media at the time. Anyway I wanted to see if there was more interest in researching this computer. I listed a number of articles and references below that either discuss Comstar, The Warner Swasey Computer Division, the “System 4” or “Star 4” Computer. All the Manuals and schematics I was able to upload to archive.org https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A%22Comstar+Computer+Systems%22 Computer History Museum's Archive of the Manual https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102686568 Pictures of the items I have collected so far https://imgur.com/a/Oyts3A9 The website "Internet Scripophily Museum of Computing" has a page on the history of The Warner & Swasey Company. It's a decent timeline of the company http://ismoc.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-warner-swasey-company.html "Development of a portable compiler for industrial microcomputer systems" by LEROY H. ANDERSON The Warner & Swasey Company, it discusses the system and has images on the unit. https://www.computer.org/csdl/pds/api/csdl/proceedings/download-article/12O… In the ACM's archives "Development of a portable compiler for industrial microcomputer systems" by LEROY H. ANDERSON The Warner & Swasey Company, it discusses the system and has images on the unit. https://www.computer.org/csdl/pds/api/csdl/proceedings/download-article/12O… Electronics Magazine July 11th 1974 Article: Industrial Automatic control proliferates, they are mentioned on page 84 & 85 https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Electronics/70s/74/Electronics-19… There is a mention about the compiler in the IEEE on Page 25 under Compiler Programmer https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=6368812 Computer Design Magazine Nov 1975 Page 129 they talk about the compiler. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_ComputerDe_90611286/page/128/mode/2up The Intel MCS 4 User Manual Feb 1973 page 171 and in Electronics Magazine Jan 1973, they promote the 4004 and 8008 and use the System 4 as an example. http://www.bitsavers.org/components/intel/MCS4/MCS-4_UsersManual_Feb73.pdf https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Electronics/70s/73/Electronics-19… There are a number of sources that list the computer as a "microcomputer" and provide specs showing it being 4004 based. Datamation Magazine Page 97 & 101 http://www.bitsavers.org/magazines/Datamation/197412.pdf In "Auerbach Guide to Minicomputers" April 1976, the computer is mentioned on page 54 and page 70. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/auerbach/Auerbach_Guide_to_Minicomputers_Apr76… In "Auerbach Guide to Minicomputers" Winter 1976 - 1977, the computer is mentioned on page 32 http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/auerbach/Auerbach_Guide_to_Minicomputers_1976-…

1 month, 2 weeks

7
7
0 0

Re: IBM 5155

by Ali

>Is it likely there is one of those little batteries on it that would>now be dead and need replacing before I try to use it?>Congrats and no. This is your std XT (5160) MB just shoved in a case with a handle and monitor.>And, also, would this have a floppy controller on it that was capable>of reading and writing disks from systems like the TRS-80 with an SD boot track?>If it works on an XT it will work on a 5155. If not then no.

1 month, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

DEC MAD-11

by hupfadekroua

Hi All, In my collection I do have a blinkenlight front panel with a label MAD-11. Based on the adress and data switches the system should be of 18 Bits wide. I don‘t see any kind of references or links to docs while querying the internet. Does some of you have any information or hints available? A.

1 month, 2 weeks

3
3
0 0

Philips P3800 key lock swtch

by Tony Duell

Does anyone know anything about the key lock on the mains on/off switch of the P3800? I have one without a key. I can't identify the lock manufacturer (no markings on it at all) so I've not been able to get a blank to cut a replacement key. A friend who is a locksmith said she'd never seen anything like it. Any ideas who made the lock itself? Were all P3800 machines normally 'keyed alike' If so, a copy of an existing key (anyone have one?) would be a great help. Yes, I can trvially bypass the lock/switch mechanically or electrically. But I want to try to get this thing as original as possible. -tony

1 month, 2 weeks

27
80
0 0

Wanted: DEC ba23 or ba123 chassis

by lbmgmusic＠gmail.com

I am building up a micro vax and need an empty chassis. Given the number of dec boards on ebay, I assume (hopefully) that there are some empty chassis out there. Please PM if you know of an option. tnx jc

1 month, 2 weeks

10
13
0 0

Re: Finding a Honeywell 316?

by Adrian Stoness

digging through emails and just found this again strangely i have the h316 manuals from lynn lake found them in my house i bought in 2017 did some digging around to find the system but it got tossed out in 2016 apparently argg On Sat, Jul 21, 2012 at 10:39 PM Paul Anderson <wackyvorlon(a)me.com> wrote: > My father worked in a mine in the '70s that was using a Honeywell 316 for > process control. I was thinking it might be neat to see if I could track > one down. What are they worth the days? How common are they? > > Sent from my iPad >

1 month, 2 weeks

5
8
0 0

Wanted: DEC ba23 or ba123 chassis

by lbmgmusic＠gmail.com

I am building up a micro vax and need an empty chassis. Given the number of dec boards on ebay, I assume (hopefully) that there are some empty chassis out there. Please PM if you know of an option. tnx jc

1 month, 2 weeks

1
1
0 0

Wanted: 64Mb 72-pin, single sided, non-ecc, non-parity SIMMs. 3.3V and 5V tolerant or 5V

by Anders Gustafsson

Asking for a friend �� Reason is this... I built an expansion board for the HP1000 A-series. I found some modules on eBay that work fine for me, but a friend that built the board have had probems finding and yes, most of the vendors on eBay do not know what they are selling and the picture might not match what you get. So I am asking here if anyone has a module they might want to part with. The board design is here: https://www.dalton.ax/hp1000/memory/ -- Med vänlig hälsning Anders Gustafsson, ingenjör anders.gustafsson(a)pedago.fi | Support +358 18 12060 | Direkt +358 9 315 45 121 | Mobil +358 40506 7099 Pedago interaktiv ab, Nygatan 7 B , AX-22100 MARIEHAMN, ÅLAND, FINLAND

1 month, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Skype

by Murray McCullough

It is with some sadness to here of Skype's demise even though MS owned it. It's not necessarily on topic of 'ancient' personal computing but then again maybe it is! Happy computing, Murray 🙂

1 month, 3 weeks

12
17
0 0

Summer house keeping.

by Jerry Wright

I have some more thing to move out of my shop. These are in Kent Washington. most are too big to ship. Hp 1000f 2117f computer. Lots of boards. Unknown condition. looks good. 400.00Hp 2753a Paper Tape 100.00Hp 7906 drive 200.00 HP 7970e Tape HPIB interface in cabinet 100.00HP 7970B tape 50.00 HP 9000/380 in Desk side Cabinet with drives and Hi-Res graphics 250.00 Intel 310 development system 200.00 General Automation computer 100.00 HP K-210 server works with drives in a Rack Free Sun 4-260 desk side computer. No drives. missing top cover. did boot 200.00 Dec 11/44 loaded with boards in Rack, comes with 2) RA-80's, 1) TU80 in 42" rackHas 2 RA81 and 2 RA 91 drives.( loose), + a second 42" cabinet, with a 11/44 chassis, (no Boards) with a Power supply. (mint) Computer has booted in the past, but now has 12v power supply issues 600.00 Dec 11/34 Chassis and Boards 300.00 Nova 3 Chassis, Front panel and Boards 450.00 Nova 4 Chassis and boards 200.00 3 DG Desk Top computers. made out of modular units connected together like model 10/20 Style 50.00 each Altos 486, 586, 5-15AD desk tops computers 50.00 each Private Mail please with questions and or requests. most have not been turned on. Some have but years ago. All stored in a heated shop. - Jerryg-wright(a)att.net

1 month, 3 weeks

9
12
0 0

VMR question for RSX11M and DECnet CEX

by Peter Ekstrom

I am putting together a PDP-11/23 and have a working RSX-11M 4.4 OS running in simh while I wait for a few parts. I want DECnet as well. I have the 4.7 kit and have done a netgen, but I can't install it because I don't have the CEXPAR partition in my system image. I have gone over the VMR command in the manual a few times and tried various things to try and create the partition in my image, but have not been successful. I assume (from looking in the manuals) that I either need to create that partition in my image, or make room for it? The netgen process has the defaults of 113500 as the base and 4300 as the size. VMR complains about 'non-existing memory' for the base and if I try the wild card I get 'alignment error'. I have 512KW of memory that I plan to use in the real machine, so simh is configured with that as well. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. -Peter

1 month, 3 weeks

13
14
0 0

Uploading PDFs to Bitsavers

by Christian Liendo

I'm sorry if this has been asked before. How can I send PDFs to Bitsavers? I know I cannot just FTP and create a directory. I am looking on the website but I am probably not reading what is right in front of me. Any help would be appreciated.

1 month, 3 weeks

4
3
0 0

Wang TTL BASIC

by Steve Lewis

Is anyone out there familiar with the Wang 2200 BASIC? Of about 1973/1974 C. Corti, I think you still have one of these complete and runnable? My question is, was its basically really "built" using TTL logic/chips? The system didn't really have a microprocessor (neither did the early Alto, right?) I recall that system had many boards, the whole "CPU" box was external to the monitor (and in the earliest versions, the power supply was also a large external box). I can't really fathom creating a BASIC out of raw TTL, or maybe I'm misunderstanding the approach. -Steve

1 month, 4 weeks

15
38
0 0

Wang TTL BASIC

by Bob Yates

Schematics for your viewing pleasure. More detailed information can be found in other parts of the website. https://www.wang2200.org/schematics.html

2 months

1
0
0 0

PDP-11 hardware clock

by Peter Ekstrom

Hello PDP-11 Gurus, I am looking for a better time-keeping alternative than the LTC in my PDP-11/23-PLUS. Is the KWV11-C card the best option for that or are there other options? I have looked around a bit and have seen some other RTC boards but don't know if they would work. -Peter

2 months

9
19
0 0

Re: Looking for an IF-20 interface for an Brother AX-45 typewriter

by Stefaan Ponnet

I'm attempting to interface with the 15-pin connector on the AX-45. I'm assuming it uses a similar protocol as the IF-50 / IF-30 interface which has been described in other forums https://forum.classic-computing.de/forum/index.php?thread/29023-panasonic-r… and has a working interface emulation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UJ5cyvNC_M I opened up the typewriter and traced the pins of the 15-pin centronics connector. So far I came up with this pin 1 : GND pin 2 : connected to the IC + has a pulldown resistor pin 3 : GND pin 4 : connected to the IC + has a pulldown resistor pin 5 : GND pin 6 : connected to the IC + has a pulldown resistor pin 7 : GND pin 8 : N/C pin 9 : N/C pin 10 : connected, but haven't been able to trace yet pin 11 : connected, but haven't been able to trace yet pin 12 : connected, but haven't been able to trace yet pin 13: N/C pin 14: N/C pin 15: N/C Probably these pins map to DATA CS CLK and ACK But this is still a work in progress - If we can figure out how to get the typewriter to listen to our commands we're one step closer to getting it to print.

2 months

1
0
0 0

Re: Wang TTL BASIC

by cclist＠sydex.com

The Packard-Bell PB440 (1963) was microprogrammable: https://bitsavers.org/pdf/packardBell/PB-440/SP-149A_PB-440_microprogrammin… Various earlier systems used microprogram-like techniques, but I don't know how many were earlier than PB in their use of the word. Was the PB-250's floating point microprogrammed? --Chuck

2 months

1
0
0 0

Mac SE disk cleaning

by Brian Knittel

Passing on a request: anyone know of a way to erase user data off a Mac SE hard disk that will leave the disk and Mac OS intact? The machine works and could go to a new home but has privileged medical data on it so just deleting files isn’t sufficient — the free space has to be overwritten. Are there any utilities available on floppy disk that could do it? Plan B is taking a sledgehammer to the drive, but seems a waste to go right to euthanasia if there’s another option.

2 months

7
6
0 0

QRAM-2 SAB-1 manual?

by Peter Ekstrom

So I have one of these boards, but I haven't been able to locate a manual for this specific one. Does anyone have the manual for this specific board? - Peter

2 months

1
0
0 0

kennett classic surplus sale open, NeXT cube for sale, more.

by Bill Degnan

https://www.kennettclassic.com/surplus/ Lots of items remain. Priced cheap for pick-up only Also have a complete NeXT cube with display, mouse, keyboard. SCSI2SD card harddrive installed. Works $2700. Will consider shipping this. Contact me privately with questions. Bill

2 months

1
0
0 0

Compute's Gazette returning

by wrcooke＠wrcooke.net

I saw on the BASIC Programming group on FaceBook that a new venture is going to start publishing Compute's Gazette again. https://www.computesgazette.com/ Perhaps interesting to some of you. Will You just can't beat the person who never gives up. Babe Ruth

2 months

8
7
0 0

2.5" PATA drives

by Van Snyder

I have some working 2.5" PATA drives 30GB - 1 40GB - 3 60GB - 2 80GB - 2 100GB - 1 They're yours for a PDF of a shipping label.

2 months

1
0
0 0

decuslib.com

by Henry Bent

Hi all, Is anyone else having trouble with decuslib.com? I can connect but I never get a response from the server. -Henry

2 months

3
4
0 0

VCF MW talk open

by Steve Lewis

This past Saturday at a local retro meetup, it was announced there was still at least 1 open spot for a speaker/presentation at VCF SW (Dallas) this June. Just passing the word, if anyone is in the area at that time and interested to speak on a topic vintage-computing related. There should be a signup at the VCF SW page.

2 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

VCF Swap Meet June 7, 2025 in Wall, NJ

by Jeffrey Brace

https://vcfed.org/vcf-swap-meet/ Jeff Brace

2 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

Re: Digital Intelligence UltraBlock-SCSI bridge to USB/FW

by John Foust

At 11:34 PM 4/24/2025, Travis Pierce via cctalk wrote: >I just now used one tonight to image a JAZ disk that I found. I used DD on >a modern Linux box. These little bridges do come in handy and are pretty >convenient. I really like mine quite a bit. I was hoping they just present the SCSI drive as a block device to the operating system, did not require proprietary software, and that they'd work under modern Windows as well. >My only criticism is that >once you have it all connected (USB, Power, SCSI Drive) there are >literally wires everywhere, but that's just how SCSI was. And then there's the blood sacrifice. Fortunately I have bales of cables. At 10:19 PM 4/24/2025, Henry Bent wrote: >Oh, one more click and I would have gotten there...Â <https://web.archive.org/web/20060831144110/http://www.digitalintelligence.c…>https://web.archive.org/web/20060831144110/http://www.digitalintelligence.c… That is the bridge for forensically reading USB devices. Mine is for SCSI devices, like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/387890903599 or https://web.archive.org/web/20060421102553/http://www.digitalintelligence.c… I looked at https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.digitalintelligence.com/files/* but did not see the UltraBlock model "T4" manual. - John

2 months, 1 week

3
2
0 0

GRiD archive anywhere?

by Steve Lewis

Been messing around with a GRiD system recently - I'm not seeing a solid archive of things like PDFs and ROMs for that system. And I've heard a rumor there used to be one, but it went offline a few years back? Mostly I'm looking for GPIB related info, and maybe either native GRiD drivers or some compatible MS-DOS drivers to use the GPIB port on that system. Here some images and reference info of what I've learned so far about a late-model (but before Tandy) GRiD system... https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?forums/grid-systems.82/ I'm also hunting around for one of those GRiD disk drives, if there is any spare standalone one not bundled with another existing system. -Steve

2 months, 1 week

2
1
0 0

Re: Digital Intelligence UltraBlock-SCSI bridge to USB/FW

by John Foust

I found the manual: https://web.archive.org/web/20100215085042/http://www.digitalintelligence.c… As it was sold as part of a kit of three. - John

2 months, 1 week

3
2
0 0

Digital Intelligence UltraBlock-SCSI bridge to USB/FW

by John Foust

I was curious and had a spare benjamin for one of these from eBay, thinking it would be a handy USB to SCSI adapter for convenient imaging of old drives, as it was mentioned as one a month or two ago on the Reddits. I'd like to find a manual and hear anecdotes. Mine is a model T4, has USB 2.0 and Firewire 800, circa 2005. I was surprised to see they were made in New Berlin, WI. I don't see any mention of this model on their web site https://digitalintelligence.com/ nor any mention of "ultrablock" in my CCtalk archives. - John

2 months, 1 week

3
3
0 0

Converting raw images to floppy images

by Bill Gunshannon

Can anyone here tell me what tool I can use to create DSK, DMK or IMD files from files with the extensions "raw" and VOL? I am once again trying to get the CPM Adaptable System for UCSD Pascal to work on an emulator. I would also like to try and get the PDP-11 version of UCSD Pascal running again and that requires the same ability. bill

2 months, 1 week

4
3
0 0

2.5" disk drives

by Van Snyder

I have several 2.5" disk drives, some PATA, some SATA, ranging from 9GB to 130 GB. Do you need any? Send a PDF for a shipping label.

2 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

3.5" mounting brackets

by Van Snyder

I have mounting brackets for 3.5" disk drives in an Antec Sonata III 500 case. They're nice metal trays with mounting holes on the bottom and spring metal clips on the sides to hold them into the panel inside the case. For some reason, I have six of them, but the case has only four slots. Does anybody need them? https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-7235982

2 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

Paul Anderson?

by Tom Hunter

I have been talking with Paul Anderson about some PDP-11/05 parts. End of January Paul wrote about medical problems and possible surgery. I have not been able to get in touch with him since and hope he is OK. Has anyone here heard anything about Paul since January? Thanks Tom

2 months, 1 week

3
2
0 0

RS232 Spec

by Steve Lewis

Hey gang, a few months ago I had found the 1968/1969 document spec of RS-232. But now, I'm unable to find it again ! At Internet Archive, there is one link/reference to it, but it appears to just be the cover page (which does have the date of August 1969). I see the EIA RS-232-C spec dated from 1991 (but I think that date is just marking when EIA took over stewardship of the standard, but the spec should reflect/match the original 1969 one). In the manual for the DataSet 103C (from a few years earlier than 1969), it outlines signal lines all labeled like RS-232. But I wouldn't call it an RS-232 spec. Like most standards, it takes a number of years for a community/critical mass of products to understand it and adopt it correctly. Even ASCII wasn't globally recognized and adopted until maybe 15 years after it was introduced? So I was trying to track down the "earliest mention" of RS-232, to pinpoint it really being from 1962. Technically it appears the EIA "guards" that spec, and makes it expensive to officially download it. Maybe they took an initiative to try to scrub earlier editions from the public web, maybe that's why it's harder to find now? But I was pretty sure I found a scanned copy of it at some point (the Aug 1969 one). If anyone happens to have a printer version (of a 1969 or earlier RS-232 spec) - it would at least be nice to know that exists somewhere. I'm pretty sure that "original spec" called out +/- 3 to 25V, later ones maybe used 20V or 15V. -Steve

2 months, 1 week

11
21
0 0

PDP-8 and PDP-12 Paper Tape Images Posted (Re: Paper Tape Reader Needed)

by Jay Jaeger

I have posted my PDP8 and PDP12 paper tape images onto my Google Drive (where they are also available to CHM/Al Kossow for their "bits" collection. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2v4WRwISEQRWWFFdVpCZWFTZEU&resourcekey=0… Look in bits/DEC/pdp8 and bits/DEC/pdp12 for folders "From_JayJaeger". There is a PDF of the contents of BOTH directories in each one (it is the same PDF in each case). JRJ

2 months, 2 weeks

2
1
0 0

Re: RS232 Spec

by donald donaldwhittemore.com

FWIW, both Grok and ChatGPT say the same thing. The RS-232 standard was first described in 1960 by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA). Its full original designation was EIA RS-232, where “RS” stands for Recommended Standard.

2 months, 2 weeks

3
2
0 0

Looking for Tiny BASIC Extended source code

by Eric Scharff

Many years ago (March 2007 to be precise), I posted to this mailing list because I had typed in (by hand) the octal listing of TBX (Tiny BASIC Extended) from Dr Dobbs Vol. 1 No. 1, pp 16-17( It turns out that this 8080 code basically worked and I was able to verify it in a Z-80 simulator. Fast forward to 2025, and I have rediscovered this code and posted it to GitHub. I have also included an 8080 emulator in JavaScript so you can run TBX in your browser: https://github.com/ericscharff/tinybasic While keying in two pages of octal listings was an interesting exercise, I’m less keen to type in the source code for TBX, which appeared in Vol 1 No 2, pp 13-31. I’d like to preserve this source code alongside the octal dump in my github repository. Does anyone happen to have a listing of this source code in ASCII, or perhaps access to high quality OCR software that could perhaps automate the job? The closest I can find is on Whipple’s own web site athttps://whippleway.com/Source_Code/TBX.asm Which seems quite close, but is missing things from the first TBX (e.g., FOR / NXT loops) Many thanks, -Eric

2 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

SLIP TCP/IP stack for PRO/VENIX

by Cameron Kaiser

Way back when, I asked on the list about null modems for the DEC Pro which I planned to use for experiments with SLIP. PRO/VENIX doesn't have any network capability other than UUCP, and it doesn't seem like anything else supports the Ethernet CTI card other than P/OS (of course) and the unofficial 2.9BSD, but I like PRO/VENIX V2.0 better because it's a real System V. Anyway, here's a simple implementation with four clients (ping, DNS, NTP and command-reply TCP) which runs over the printer port at the standard 4800bps. That keeps the main serial port free as a second terminal and for Kermit. Getting it to work with both the PRO/VENIX Rev. 2.0 and V2.0 compilers (i.e., older-than-V7 and System V respectively) was interesting. Unfortunately Xhomer's serial port emulation isn't good enough for this yet; many dropped bytes. It works fine with my real DEC Pro 380. https://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2025/04/lets-give-provenix-barely-adequate-pre.… https://github.com/classilla/bass -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser(a)floodgap.com -- God made the integers; all else is the work of Man. -- Kronecker -----------

2 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

VCF East 2025 Survey Results

by Jeffrey Brace

VCF East 2025 Survey results: https://www.surveymonkey.com/stories/SM-chUD9AoxbzNkIk230AwghQ_3D_3D/ Jeff Brace VCF East Showrunner

2 months, 2 weeks

3
2
0 0

System Source Swap Meet April 26 & 27, 2025 (Hunt Valley, MD)

by Jeffrey Brace

More info here: https://ca.syssrc.com/wp/?page_id=105&civiwp=CiviCRM&q=civicrm%2Fevent%2Fin…

2 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

VCF East photo gallery

by William Sudbrink

Commodore Z has put up a very nice gallery of photos of VCF East 2025: https://www.commodorez.com/VCFEXX/index.html Bill S. -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com

2 months, 2 weeks

3
2
0 0

RK11-D register address assignment

by Jos Fries

The "RK11-D and RK11-E moving head disk drive controller manual" (EK-RK11D-MM-002) states in par. 2.5 (Installation Procedure) that the register and vector addresses of a RK11-D can be configured by "seven interrupt vector address jumpers and eight address selection jumpers of the M7257". The manual however doesn't state the address range that can be configured by these jumpers and refers to engineering drawing D-CS-M7257-0-1 for that information. I found these drawings in the RK11-D Engineering Drawings but cannot find information in them on the valid address ranges. Therefore my question: what is the address range a RK11 controller can be configured for?

2 months, 2 weeks

4
6
1 0

Looking for VAX/VMS v4.x Software

by Christian Gauger-Cosgrove

Greetings, Long story short, as the subject line says, I'm looking for some VAX/VMS v4 era software. I've been working on putting together a "turnkey" VMS v4.7 system — I've mentioned it over on the SIMH mailing list once or twice, and if anyone is on the ClassicCMP Discord server, Mainframe Enthusiasts Discord Server, or DEC Discord¹, you've likely seen me mention it multiple times — and I'm currently trying to copies of some of layered products. To the crux of the issue, does anyone here have — as an image, or media that they are are willing to image/have imaged — the installation media for the following software for VAX/VMS v4.x? • VAX NOTES • VAX P.S.I. • VAXset/DECset — specifically the Language Sensitive Editor • CGRAF and CIMI And just because I have a deep loathing for myself: • Eunice I'm also always open to any other software for VMS v4.x if anyone has any they want to share. Best regards, Christian ¹: "The Digital Equipment Corporation Fan Spot", as it's named properly. -- Christian M. Gauger-Cosgrove STCKON08DS0 Contact information available upon request.

2 months, 2 weeks

6
7
0 0

ThornEMI Datatech 9800 9-track tape drive

by Lothar Schröder

G'day, I have a ThornEMI Datatech 9800 9-track tape drive. Has anyone a user- or service-manual or a description how to load a tape? This drive can load the 7" 9-track tape reels and has an industrial interface with edge-connectors P1 and P2. Thanks in advance Lothar

2 months, 2 weeks

3
3
0 0

VCF West 2025, Exhibit Registration Open - August 1-2 - Computer History Museum

by Jeffrey Brace

VCF West 2025 Exhibit Registration Now Open!!! VCF West is August 1-2 at the Computer History Museum Register an exhibit here: https://forms.gle/vQj4PUJCidjFt9GF8

2 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Is the mailing list down?

by Tom Hunter

I have received no messages for a while. Is the list down? Thanks Tom

2 months, 2 weeks

5
5
0 0

classiccmp test mail

by P Gebhardt

Hi list, since I am not getting any emails from our classiccmp mailing list anymore since mid of March, I would like to send this test email and see if it arrives and gets back to me. Appologies for the noise created. Pierre ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.digitalheritage.de

2 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0

Re: Paper Tape Reader Needed

by Anders Nelson

Oh right, that's an important piece haha. I imagine fusing that Arduino project mentioned earlier in the thread with an SPI RAM chip and little extra firmware should be able to grab any length of tape one may have. -- Anders Nelson On Sun, Apr 13, 2025, 4:59 PM Mike Katz <bitwiz(a)12bitsbest.com> wrote: > Plus the circuit and software to operate it and convert the data to serial > or USB CID. > > On Apr 13, 2025 3:10 PM, Anders Nelson via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > wrote: > > Here's a super cheap reader assembly you could bolt to a board, then hang > your supply reel from a bolt stuck in it if you're looking for the lowest > cost option: > > https://www.ebay.com/itm/224491588288 > -- > Anders Nelson > > On Sun, Apr 13, 2025, 6:49 AM Martin Bishop via cctalk < > cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > The Sanyo Denki readers I have known use sprocket wheel feed, an > > additional means of damaging tapes. > > > > The Fanuc readers use a friction pinch, "rubber on steel", so they can't > > "saw" the tapes. > > > > Perhaps a consideration - if one has a choice > > > > Martin > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Chuck Guzis via cctalk [mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org] > > Sent: 13 April 2025 02:18 > > To: Ethan Dicks via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > > Cc: Chuck Guzis <cclist(a)sydex.com> > > Subject: [cctalk] Re: Paper Tape Reader Needed > > > > My PT reader is a Sanyo Denki, from a piece of CNC gear. (Bitsavers has > > some docs on those), Added a +5/+24 power suppy and a STM32 "Blue Pill" > > MCU interfacing as a USB communications device. > > > > Easy peasy and woks a treat. > > > > --Chuck > > > > >

2 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0

Re: Selling Off My Q-Bus Collection

by donald donaldwhittemore.com

You may want to contact Dave. I believe he is doing things with this stuff. Ex-Microsoft software engineer. On X he is <https://x.com/davepl1968/status/1683904668127358976?s=58> Dave W Plummer<https://x.com/davepl1968?s=58> ⁦‪@davepl1968‬⁩<https://x.com/davepl1968?s=58>

2 months, 3 weeks

2
1
0 0

VCF East 2025 is on The Verge!

by Jeffrey Brace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BTxddKZbhA VCF East was a great success with great speakers, exhibitors, classes, consignment and attendees! Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this show happen. I couldn't have done it without you! Also check out other videos from VCF East: https://vcfed.org/vcf-east-2025-videos/ and articles on the show: https://vcfed.org/vcf-east-2025-articles/ Jeff Brace VCF East Showrunner

2 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0

Re: Paper Tape Reader Needed

by Martin Bishop

Folks The jpg I posted previously https://www.emeritus-solutions.com/papertape/fanuc/Pic16F13145FanucInterfac… says it all cryptically To unpack the approach: - ex CNC machine paper tape readers are available, the Fanuc ones are both common and susceptable to house training - so 1) is buy a fanuc PTR + interface : part nos and current picks below - the required supplies are 200 V 50/60 Hz ~23W, 24V DC at ~1A2, 5V DC ~325 mA - the Fanuc interface board is https://www.emeritus-solutions.com/papertape/fanuc/A20B-0007-075D_Ptr_Inter… series 74 TTL IO - my interface bodgit uses a PIC16F13145 EVB as it has 5V IO (which is just the thing for series 74) and some CLBs (a joke, but you have to walk the ground) - so 2) you need a https://www.microchip.com/en-us/development-tool/ev06m52a to convert parallel octets into serial output - the interconnect board is connectors and wiring, the one illustrated is built for ease rather than compactness - so 3) DIY time, [DrB] the wire list for marrying PTR and PIC[DrB] is in the .zip - a project archive for the PIC containing sources and binary is available for download https://www.emeritus-solutions.com/papertape/fanuc/FanucInterFace1.zip should contain working code for MPLAB/X - my Fanuc zoo https://www.emeritus-solutions.com/papertape/fanuc/visualise.php depicts the interconnect board https://www.emeritus-solutions.com/papertape/fanuc/Pic16F13145FanucInterfac… https://www.emeritus-solutions.com/papertape/fanuc/Pic16F13145FanucInterfac… FWIW I usually use a Zynq to interface PTRs, this design was an exploration of the 16F13145's capabilities, serendipitously providing a "uart" on an EVB solution The PTRs run the capstan continuously, the pinch roller is engaged by the centre off switch on the front panel: Manual - feeds tape, but does not assert DataValid; Auto - feeds tape and asserts DataValid. The PIC outputs octets when DataValid is asserted. The pinch roller is engaged when Auto or Manual is selected. The Brake Clamp is engaged when the NO foot pedal is closed. The PT feed is friction, the reader is opto with LED illumination. The A02B-0047-C061 is compact https://www.emeritus-solutions.com/papertape/fanuc/A02B-0047-C061_Ptr_Front…, but may not come with a Fanuc interface card A20B-007-075D https://www.emeritus-solutions.com/papertape/fanuc/A20B-0007-075D_Ptr_Inter… (which you will need). The A13B-0070-B001 is a 6U 19" rack panel https://www.emeritus-solutions.com/papertape/fanuc/A13B-0070-B001_Ptr_Bin_F… typically the interface card is attached to this panel So, picks from eBay.com are: https://www.ebay.com/itm/126851010269 https://www.ebay.com/itm/393980423195 although I have no idea if the PSU is any more than an ornament https://www.ebay.com/itm/233194641467 or https://www.ebay.com/itm/304005388602 plus https://www.ebay.com/itm/184870581852 or https://www.ebay.com/itm/293557099779 or with a diy panel https://www.ebay.com/itm/224491588288 etc etc More than one set of bits may be required to eliminate squeaks, but the simple PTRs usu seem to work Also, https://www.ebay.com/itm/150974081687 is RtR and uses the same IO interface card as its lesser siblings - I'm (still) reverse engineering the push button and remote logic which is for CNC Gcode use cases https://www.ebay.com/itm/167311496458 is 2nd generation RtR and I have yet to make mine work ...; item zero is stw a (mechanically damaged) AC PSU ... HtH, Fanuc also made a PPR Punch Printer Reader with a serial (usu 4800) baud interface https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/405256535393 This cookery makes serviceable PTRs out of inexpensive pre used readers - ten times cheaper than a PPR ? And of course my wiring sheet tells you how to hook up to your favorite hardware - game on ? Martin -----Original Message----- From: Mike Katz [mailto:bitwiz@12bitsbest.com] Sent: 11 April 2025 15:59 To: Martin Bishop <mjd.bishop(a)emeritus-solutions.com> Subject: Re: [cctalk] Paper Tape Reader Needed I'm intrigued... On 4/11/2025 5:54 AM, Martin Bishop wrote: > Mike > > If a clone of https://www.emeritus-solutions.com/papertape/fanuc/Pic16F13145FanucInterfac… would solve your problem I'm happy to share the cookery. > > With 60 Hz AC 300cps to a serial port (USB C); the 1/4" jack is for a foot pedal "hold". > > For US sources of readers see eg : https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=fanuc+tape+reader - $50 to $3000 for the same thing ... > > Martin > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mike Katz via cctalk [mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org] > Sent: 10 April 2025 17:10 > To: Tony Duell via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > Cc: Mike Katz <bitwiz(a)12bitsbest.com> > Subject: [cctalk] Paper Tape Reader Needed > > I have acquired a bunch of PDP-8 and PDP-12 paper tapes and I need a reader so that I can archive them. > > Does anyone have a serial (RS-232) or USB reader or reader/punch that needs a good home or can be purchased for a reasonable price? > > Thank you, > > Mike > bitwiz(a)12bitsbest.com

2 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0

Re: Why I am not worried about AI taking over the world!

by John Foust

At 12:39 PM 4/9/2025, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk wrote: >I'll continue to play with it but my initial reactions still stand. >No sign of intelligence and not ready for prime-time. What did you ask it to do? Exactly, I mean? When it didn't give you the answer you wanted, what did you say next? It would not surprise me if comp-sci departments now offer a major in writing GPT queries. Today's AI wranglers might be writing queries that range from a few words to a many pages of text. They're also having a conversation with it to refine their query. It's more than google.com circa 2005. Many of us spent years learning how to get better results from Google more often, after all. I don't have a problem with skepticism about it. Call it a parlor trick all day long, tell me it's not *truly* intelligent, but you should also examine it enough to get to the point where you'll say "that's truly an amazing and perhaps sometimes very useful parlor trick." - John

2 months, 3 weeks

8
9
0 0

VCF East 2025 Post Event Survey

by Jeffrey Brace

Please take a few minutes to complete this anonymous survey about VCF East 2025. Your feedback is important and helps us in planning the next event. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YFLSKSW Thanks! Jeff Brace VCF East Showrunner

2 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0

Altair BASIC Source Code released

by Murray McCullough

I wonder if this helped start the microcomputer revolution, OS-side, or was this a re-hash of what already was available? It's a historical event as per se but much more than that I'm not sure! Happy computing! Murray 🙂

2 months, 3 weeks

11
10
0 0

Teletype in Cleveland

by Henry Bent

Not my listing, but I thought I would pass it on in case others were interested. https://nextdoor.com/for_sale_and_free/954bf8cc-66d6-4f41-a447-9c6aaae42ea3… -Henry

2 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0

Why I am not worried about AI taking over the world!

by Bill Gunshannon

So, I am working on another fun project on my trusty old TRS-80's. I need the ability to do multi-line functions which TRS-80 BASIC does not support. But in hopes of finding something where someone added that capability in the distant past (there were lots of features added by various people over time) I decided to just try a Google Search. As we all know Google now begins results with an AI generated answer to your question. This is what I got: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In TRS-80 BASIC, you can create multi-line functions (subroutines) using the DEF FN statement, allowing you to define a function that can perform a specific task and be called from different parts of your program. Here's how it works: DEF FN Statement: You use the DEF FN statement to define a function, followed by the function name (e.g., FNMyFunction), a set of parentheses for any arguments, and then the code that the function will execute. Example: 10 DEF FNC(X,Y) = X*X + Y*Y defines a function named FNC that takes two arguments (X and Y) and returns the sum of their squares. Function Call: To use the function, you simply call it by its name, passing in the necessary arguments. Example: 20 PRINT FNC(3,4) would print the value returned by the FNC function when called with arguments 3 and 4, which is 25. Multi-line Functions: You can extend the DEF FN statement to span multiple lines, allowing for more complex logic within the function. Example: Code 10 DEF FNC(X,Y) 20 LET TEMP = X * X 30 LET TEMP = TEMP + Y * Y 40 DEF FN END 50 PRINT FNC(3,4) This example defines a function that calculates the sum of squares of two numbers, but the calculation is broken down into multiple lines for readability. Key Points: Line Numbers: TRS-80 BASIC relies on line numbers, so make sure to use them appropriately when defining multi-line functions. Function Name: Function names must start with FN followed by a valid identifier (e.g., FNC, FNMyFunction). DEF FN END: You need to use DEF FN END to mark the end of the function definition, especially when using multi-line functions. Scope: Functions are defined within the scope of the program and are accessible from anywhere in the program. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Which is both wrong and totally absurd. And I see things all the time about letting AI write your code for you. Does anyone actually trust AI to write code? bill

2 months, 3 weeks

22
45
0 0

Re: Philips P3800 key lock swtch

by donald donaldwhittemore.com

Lishi tools can decode the bitting. Surprised the locksmith did not use them. Just need to identify the keyway style. https://covertinstruments.com/collections/lishi-tools

2 months, 4 weeks

2
1
0 0

Re: Altair BASIC Source Code released

by Alan Frisbie

Bob Grabau <rgrabau1(a)verizon.net> write: > As my memory serves, there was a class given by the Southern > California Computer Society (SCCS) in which the disassembled the > Altair Basic (not sure if it was the 4k or 8k version) and used the > output of that disassembly for the class. There was a guy who had the > complete annotated (by the class) of the source as printed out copies > in his trunk, which he just handed out to anyone that asked for it. > This was somewhere between 1975-1978 (76-77 most likely) when I was a > member of SCCS. I was part of that disassembly effort and remember it well! I'm pretty sure I still have my copy of it stashed away here. It was a lot of fun. I had been a very early (1974) user of the 8080 at NCR, and this gave me a chance to contribute to the knowledge base. One thing I intend to do with this listing is find a piece of code I worked to disassemble, and read the comments. As I recall, it was part of some error handling. It consisted of a string of three-byte instructions that did nothing important, but if you jumped into the second byte of one, it would (as I recall) act as a two-byte instruction and load a register with an error code. After executing that 2/3 instruction, it fell into the remaining string of three-byte instructions which did nothing of interest. At the end, it would take the value that had been loaded earlier and use it. I was simultaneously impressed and appalled by this space-saving coding technique. I'm disappointed that two printer pages are combined into a single PDF page, as it makes it a bit difficult to read. Still, it is a great window into the minds of Bill, Paul, and Monte. Alan Frisbie

3 months

2
1
0 0

Re: Why I am not worried about AI taking over the world!

by John Foust

"Ancient BASIC dialects" seems like a rather small obscure domain and as they say, they're not making any more of them. I'd think that if you trained an AI on enough examples, they'd do much better. The BASIC language isn't that complex compared to modern languages where people are finding AI as a useful assistant, like it or not. Think of it like old-school "pair programming" that gives you a friend in your cube to talk to. - John

3 months

8
11
0 0

DCK11 doc

by dstalkowski＠ody.ca

I have a scan of the following: LSI-11 BUS INTERFAE CHIPKIT/PROGRAM CONTROL DCK11-AA,-AC October, 1977 Phil Champaigne Logic Products MR2-2/X6645 If someone is interested in a copy, preferably someone who can host it, please contact me. don

3 months

1
0
0 0

Re: DEC Unibus variants

by shadoooo

The why not use a UniBone comment has merit, what will your (FPGA) > implementation add ? > Well, I know the Unibone! Surely is a very capable system for emulation of older hardware and interfaces. Also performances are good as far as I understand (I don't have one). I have the idea of extending the concept of Unibone. The new design shall be modular, composed by: - a main board hosting the SoM and common interfaces (Ethernet, SD, USB, console) - a bus module for specific bus / machine: support could be added for DEC / Data General / other? - an interchangeable interface module for an hardware device (SMD, Pertec, floppy, RX1/2, RL01/02, other). Any kind of interface could be supported, also for example ADC, DAC, maybe video to some limits...) If you have main module and bus module, you have a similar solution to Unibone / Qbone. However if you need to change bus type, you need to swap only the bus adapter (cheaper). If you have main and interfaces modules, you can control physical devices directly, and do anything with it. For example, you can dump / restore the content of a SMD disk at bit level, no need to know the controller format, etc. Similar to Kyroflux for floppy, but MUCH faster! Alternatively, you could also emulate the device at low level (for example a generic SMD disk). If you have a set of main, bus and interface modules, you can do anything as above, plus you can emulate a controller for a specific machine for a specific device. That said, implementing "anything" would be an infinite effort, but the platform is flexible, so support could be added step-by-step. So why an FPGA? A programmable logic can implement a true digital circuit, where the PRUs in the BeagleBone are processors. This means that in an FPGA the time is always precisely determined by a clock, in PRUs it is affected by the software execution. This means that a PRU can work quite well on an asynchronous bus, provided that sample rate is sufficient, even if not constant. But for a fast synchronous interface, i.e. when time is determined by an external clock, often embedded with data, no software approach can work steadily in my opinion. One thing is true: programming an FPGA is designing a netlist, not developing a software. It can be very hard to debug sometimes, because the approach is more similar to repairing an old board with a Logic Analyzer than perform debugging in software: it's a circuit in a chip, there no step-by-step execution! Nevertheless: I'm a quite good electronic engineer, highly experienced with digital logic and FPGA, so the hardware design wouldn't be a problem. Just a matter of time. Nowadays a SoM with a smaller AMD Zynq7010/7020 (a system-on-chip including an FPGA, plus dual core CPU, lot of peripherals) doesn't cost a lot, and have a great usage flexibility. Also brute computing power is superior to older BB. Why not try? I'm open to your comments. As for the UNIBUS unobtainable transceivers: I think the best solution is to use AM26S10 for drivers, and an LVC logic powered at 3.3v for receivers. Both are active parts costing nuts. I would try this approach. Andrea

3 months

5
4
0 0

DEC Unibus variants

by shadoooo

Hello, I'm searching information about all existing variants of DEC Unibus in Dual/Quad/Hex flavors. I read the "UnibusSpec1979.pdf" on bitsavers, which reports a "Standard Unibus" pinout in the last pages. However in several backplanes "Small Peripheral Controller", "Modified Unibus Device" and "Extended Unibus" are supported. Maybe also other unlisted Unibus variants do exist (e.g VAX 11/730)? I also found the gunkies.org WIKI very helpful, however it is still quite difficult to compare the pinout differences (dummy proof). Where could I find a specific DEC documentation about the more recent variants, similar to the 1979 specs, but referred to SPC, MUD, EUB, ect? Big doubts: - why DEC, having defined the dual Standard pinout, had then to implement the quad SPC backplanes? - why DEC, having defined quad backplanes, had then to implement the hex (standard + SPC) or (MUD + SPC) or EUB? I mean: given that in AB all Unibus signals are present (from specifications), what is the need for CDEF? Provided that several signals are duplicated in hex pinout, the backplane will connect homologue signals together, or AB bus will always be separated from CDEF bus? My aim is to design a reprogrammable digital logic board which could be employed in any system, using 18bits address or also 22bits (i.e. for 11/24). Thanks Andrea

3 months

12
21
0 0

Re: Wanted : Philips PSU-B3 (or -B4?) power supply for the P3800

by Fred Jan Kraan

Tony Duell wrote: > I am working on a Philips P3800 computer, about 40 years old. It's a > multiprocessor Turbodos machine, a mix of Z80's and 80186's There is some P3500/3800 documentation online, including power supplies (Netzteile) at: https://electrickery.nl/comp/divcomp/doc/index.html Not exactly what you asked for, but related. Fred Jan

3 months

1
0
0 0

Wanted : Philips PSU-B3 (or -B4?) power supply for the P3800

by Tony Duell

I am working on a Philips P3800 computer, about 40 years old. It's a multiprocessor Turbodos machine, a mix of Z80's and 80186's The main problem is that I only have half the power supply. I have the PSU-M3 battery-backed memory supply, but not the logic supply. This I believe to be a PSU-B3 module, although from the circuit diagrams I have, I think a PSU-B4 would work. Outputs are +5V, +12V, -12V, +24V and maybe -5V. There's also remote on/off control, so it's not trivial to use a different power supply The base board is a 233*160mm double eurocard wth a 96 pin 0.1" pitch DIN41612 connector for the outputs and a 32 pin 0.2" pitch DIN41612 connector for the mains input. There is probably another board stacked on top of it (connected only to the baseboard, not to the backplane) and there may be a metal plate on top of the lot. Please let me know if you have any idea where to find one. -tony

3 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

KZCCA scsi/ethernet card - VMS driver needed

by Jim Bender

Help needed! Nemonix NXETHER41/NXSCSI41 Intraserver KZCCA DEC/Compaq KZCCA All the same board, sold under multiple brands, the most prominent listed here. Differences are mostly labeling and branding. Looking for what is turning out to be an unicorn... I have a Microvax 3100-90 with the Nemonix NXETHER41 version of the card in it. This is the "ethernet only" version of this option card. It was also available with a SCSI adapter on it. As was the case with many hardware options back in this era, this card, no matter which flavor you have needs a driver installed in VMS in order for it to function. The driver was distributed as a vmsinstal package called "VAX_SCSI" and despite the name it included the drivers for the ethernet side of the board as well as the SCSI. It appears to have had multiple versions, 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6. 1.6 is the latest I have been able to find evidence for. What I have not been able to find evidence of is the files themselves. Despite the Nemonix website still being up, it appears to be a ghost town and none of the phone numbers or email addresses work. The web archive shows some Intraserver pages from the early 2000s with links to download the files but the files themselves were not archived. And unfortunately, DEC/Compaq did not see fit to include this on the CONDIST CDs. So my plea to the community here is... does anyone have the drivers for this card or any leads to where it could be found? Thanks! Jim

3 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

Consignment at VCF East 2025 - April 4-6 - Wall, NJ

by Jeffrey Brace

Just a few days left to get your consignment entered into NexoPOS for VCF East 2025! https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/vcf-east-consignmen… Get your tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/vintage-computer-festival-east-2025 Info: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/

3 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

InversePhase @ VCF East - April 5 - Wall, NJ

by Jeffrey Brace

Want to know what a chiptune is? How about what a chiptune is not? You can learn a little bit about the technology, its history, how it makes sounds, how it is implemented, and the culture surrounding it at this panel. All ages and experience levels are welcome! And ... After his talk, make your own chiptunes! What’s the deal with all these 8-bit whipper-snappers and their beeps, boops, and farty bass?Want to know what a chiptune is? How about what a chiptune is not? You can learn a little bit about the technology, its history, how it makes sounds, how it is implemented, and the culture surrounding it at this panel. All ages and experience levels are welcome! @inversephase is a real human person (not a robot, as you might have heard) who writes game soundtracks and chiptune tributes for a living, runs Bloop Museum, eats pizza, and even occasionally writes Bios. INFO: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ TICKETS: https://vcfed.org/2025/03/16/non-member-ticket-pricing-vcf-east/ VCF East is April 4-6 2201 Marconi Road Wall, NJ 07719

3 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

IBM 1410 FPGA Implementation Update

by Jay Jaeger

I have made some progress on my IBM 1410 FPGA implementation: - Communication between the FPGA and PC Support Program is now over UDP instead of USB/Serial - Tapes can now read/write reliably in non-overlapped mode - Diagnostics can be loaded and run from tape - Some tape issues still remain See https://www.computercollection.net/index.php/ibm-1410-fpga-implementation/ (especially the last three entries in the list.) JRJ

3 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

Amiga Roundtables at VCF East April 5 & 6 - Wall, NJ

by Jeffrey Brace

VCF East 2025 is April 4-6. Amiga Roundtables at VCF East Moderated by Dave McMurtrie and Dan Wood. *Saturday roundtable* includes: RJ Mical Dale Luck Ron Nicholson Glenn Keller Andy Finkel Jeff Porter Randell Jesup Peter Cherna *Sunday Roundtable* includes: RJ Mical Dave Haynie David John Pleasance Robert Miranda Hedley Davis Jeff Bruette Don Gilbreath Tickets here: https://vcfed.org/2025/03/16/non-member-ticket-pricing-vcf-east/ Info here: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/

3 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

Pacific Data Systems - PDS 1020

by Martin.Hepperle＠dlr.de

Many moons ago, I was working at a wind tunnel for aeronautic research. In the first week, when I started on my job, my future colleagues threw a lot of outdated computer stuff into a large dumpster. Only many years later, after I became more aware of old computing technology, I realized what that trash was. Duh! I recently dug through our library and loaned some reports describing the equipment and the software at the time. Besides several HP 2116, ASR-33, Tektronix 40xx, x-y plotters and more, I also read about their first (pre HP) computer, which was used to control data acquisition and postprocessing. It was installed in 1966 and replaced by a HP 2116C in 1972. This was a Pacific Data Systems PDS 1020. It was built into a table and featured an IBM typewriter for printed output and a reader and a punch for papertapes. One report also contained the "listing" of the program, which is a 4-character hexadecimal dump (with unusual hex digits). To give you a "feeling" for the code, here is an example subroutine: 0256 L0LS 5001 0258 525S- L0LS M029 CS7D 2260 L0LA M029 CS7D 0260 L011 3002 L0C3- A26M- CS81 3S5A- 7262- 227C 0268 0000 4500 2000 0500- 3000- 4000- 5500- On bitsavers I found scans of some manuals with the instruction set and encoding. However, these lack complete programs. Therefore, I have scanned and re-typed the original programs from my report in their original form. Now I am thinking about writing a simple simulator to read and execute these programs. The PDS 1020 seems to have been a relatively low cost and hence successful computer, but searching the internet I can find only two machines which seem to be in museums. Maybe a few more have survived in personal collections. #1: https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102686768 #2: https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/397741 Are there more? Are some of them in working order? Is there already a simulator available? Martin

3 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

Re: FD-55B head loose

by Gregory Beat

TEAC FD-55F floppy drives https://retrocmp.de/fdd/teac/fd55f.htm The TEAC FD-55F never appeared in the world of IBM compatible computers. Why is that? Because it was simply superfluous in the DOS world. The TEAC FD-55F is a double-sided 5.25 inch drive that can write 96 tracks per inch (TPI) with 9 sectors per track. In other words, the capacity of a floppy disk is 720 KByte. There were Radio Shack and other computers (NCR, etc.) that used this format (DSQD). This corresponds to the capacity of the standard 3.5-inch double-density (DD) drive. The 3.5-inch floppy disk format was supported since DOS version 3.2. Introduction of 3.5” drives and disks by IBM (mid-1980s) was one reason why the 5.25 inch drives with 720 KByte storage did not find their way into the IBM world. == Further in the above web link: Changing a Teac FD-55GFR drive to a FD-55F drive ... or, How do I get my drive to spin at 300 RPM instead of 360 RPM ? gb

3 months, 1 week

3
2
0 0

Re: FD-55B head loose

by Gregory Beat

Vogons Wiki has summary from Teac Manuals. TEAC FD-55 Series Floppy Drives http://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Teac_FD-55_series TEAC FD-55 Product Brochure (PDF, 6 pages), 1985 printing https://minuszerodegrees.net/manuals/TEAC/TEAC%20FD-55%20Series.pdf greg, w9gb

3 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

Westhead acosiates

by Adrian Stoness

Curious if there's anything in the community on them They made a cpm based system that was used in HMI control room settings in the 80's I've got the manuals for their pdm 800 series along with backup of the software on 8in floppy from the mclelan mine in Lynn lake mb. Love to find a system the one that went with my stuff got bulldozed into the ground in 2009

3 months, 1 week

2
3
0 0

FD-55B head loose

by Jim Brain

I was wondering if anyone here has experience with the FD55-B with head load solenoid. I have a few working ones, but this one is not, and when I look at it, it differs from the others in that the head "wiggles" up and done on the side nearest the solenoid. I can see it is tight on the rail oppose the solenoid, but on the side nearest, the back of the head does not connect with the rail on the back (which seems correct, as there is a piece of that extends out and looks to slot into a sensor. But, I'd assume the front mount would hug the rail, but it only does on the top. By pushing the head close to the disk in use, I can get it to work, so I think this loose head issue is the only one. I guess: * Anyone seen something like this? * Is this a broken rail mount on the head, or something else? * If its broken and probably can't be fixed, anyone have a parts FD55-B? * Can one replace the head on these (it looks like you can, but I admit I have never changed parts in a drive mech. Jim -- Jim Brain brain(a)jbrain.com www.jbrain.com

3 months, 1 week

5
12
0 0

Food Truck at VCF East 2025

by Jeffrey Brace

VCF East has a food truck this year! Boardwalk Bites agreed to have a truck there. Besides the long lines at Consignment, on-campus food had the biggest complaints from last year's survey. We hope that this solves this problem. MENU: BREAKFAST (Served from 7:30 am) Pork, Egg and Cheese Roll Egg, Bacon and Cheese Burrito Bagels and Pastries Coffee & Tea LUNCH (Served from 11:30 am – 2:00 pm) Cheeseburger Sausage & Peppers Sandwich Vegetarian Sandwich Cheesesteak Seasoned Fries Fresh Fruit BEVERAGES Water, Soda Show info: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ Tickets: https://vcfed.org/vcf-east-tickets/

3 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Brian Kernighan @ VCF East April 5 at 5PM

by Jeffrey Brace

Brian Kernighan will be interviewed by Stephen Edwards about his 2019 book: UNIX: A History and a Memoir. He will be there Saturday, April 5 at 5PM. Brian Kernighan worked at Bell Labs and co-wrote the first book on C Programming (in 1978) with Dennis Ritchie: "The C Programming Language" VCF East 2025 will be in Wall, NJ from April 4-6. More information: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ Tickets: https://vcfed.org/vcf-east-tickets/ Take care! Jeff Brace VCF East Showrunner

3 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Need PATA drives?

by Van Snyder

I have some 3.5" PATA drives. One WD2500 250 GB drive and two Maxtor Max Line II 320 GB drives. All three passed SMART long tests. If you need any, they're yours for the price of a PDF shipping label.

3 months, 2 weeks

2
2
0 0

Selling Off My Q-Bus Collection (revision based on suggestions)

by Joe

Hi, located in Eastern MA, I already have a couple of interests, but I'll see what comes in. Multiple q-bus boards that can easily ship, a VT103, a BA chassis 9x4 I think and two RX02 units.

3 months, 2 weeks

3
2
0 0

Selling Off My Q-Bus Collection

by Joe

Hi Everyone, I'm new to this list so please let me know if I am doing something incorrect. Anyway, I have a bunch of Qbus stuff (RXV21s, RX02s, memory boards, 11/23s, etc) and I am getting to the point in my life that it all needs to go to a new home. I would like to know if anybody has thoughts on where I should post the list or sell it. I could always do Epay, but I'm not sure that is the best place. I thought here or Vintage would be better but I'd like to hear thoughts from somebody that has already been there. thanks in advance Joe Heck

3 months, 2 weeks

2
1
0 0

VCF West 2025 Survey - Final Days - Mountain View, California

by Jeffrey Brace

There are only 5 days left to fill out this survey! Help us make a great show for VCF West 2025, please fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/R1kSCsVqEyZfgQ4Q8

3 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

VCF EAST CONSIGNMENT HAS A BIGGER SPACE! - April 4-6, 2025 - Wall, NJ

by Jeffrey Brace

VCF EAST 2025 CONSIGNMENT HAS A BIGGER SPACE! VCF now has a 7000 square foot space for consignment! Plenty of space for everyone's items and less waiting time to get in! Information about consignment is here: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/vcf-east-consignmen… Register and enter your new items into consignment here: https://nexopos.vcfed.org/ The show is April 4-6 in Wall, NJ. More info here: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ Tickets here: https://vcfed.org/vcf-east-tickets/ Jeff Brace VCF East Showrunner

3 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Indius Java components

by silcreval

A very left field question, but many moons ago I wrote some software using Nescape IFC. For those with long memories that was an early GUI library for Java that predates Swing. For no reason at all I'd like to get this software running again, but noticed that I probably need a 3rd party library that was produced by Indius. These IFC add ons provided a fantastic grid and tree component. The software was I believe finally released with a GNU license in the 00s but despite searching on archive etc I've not been able to find it. Does anyone by any chance have an archived copy ? Netscape IFC was quite a big thing when it was released by the way, and many books were written about it. It was also bundled with Netscapes browsers in the day, so available wherever they were installed. I believe the team that created IFC went on to make Swing, which is in many ways similar, but added a lot of bulk which at least in the early 00s made things slow. Thanks Ian

3 months, 2 weeks

2
1
0 0

IDT 49C402BG84 Pinout?

by Holm Tiffe

Hi all, I'm dreaming to build sometimes my own Bit Slice CPU (when I have spare time) and I have collected several IC's in the last years for this purpose. Today a small antistatic bag with 4x IDT49C402BG84 and two IDT 49C410J fell in my hands while I was sorting some stuff. I know what they are and what they could do, they are able to help me to build a Bit Slice CPU w/o very large PCB's connecting hordes of 2901 etc. Besides of that they are CMOS and should draw much less power. But I have a problem with the 49C402: All datasheets that I could find until now, don't have the pinput auf that nice PGA84 package, there are DIP68, LCC/PLCC68 G68 or PG68 and QE68 "Cerquad" pinouts listet in every datasheet, but I have 4 chips in a PGA84 housing... This ebay page has pictures: https://www.ebay.com/p/10020043211 I don't have anything todo with the seller. Can anyone help finding the pinout? The chips itself don't seem to that seldom... Kind Regards, Holm -- Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, Goethestrasse 15, 09569 Oederan, USt-Id: DE253710583 info(a)tsht.de Tel +49 37292 709778 Mobil: 0172 8790 741

3 months, 2 weeks

15
50
0 0

DEC CP11-U (M7824) Documentation?

by Christian Gauger-Cosgrove

Hello all, I'm curious, does anyone have any documentation on the CP11 card punch option? From the '91 Edited Option Module List and various iterations of the "Field Guide to QBUS and UNIBUS Modules" that it's: 1. A card punch, 2. A UNIBUS device, and; 3. It uses the M7824 board. I'm most particularly interested in if anyone has any programming information on it. Best regards, Christian -- Christian M. Gauger-Cosgrove STCKON08DS0 Contact information available upon request.

3 months, 3 weeks

2
2
0 0

VCF West 2025 Survey - Mountain View, California

by Jeffrey Brace

SAVE THE DATE! VCF West is back on August 1 & 2, 2025 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. Please fill out this survey to help us with planning: https://forms.gle/R1kSCsVqEyZfgQ4Q8 This survey is for everyone! We have started plans to make VCF West a bigger, better, and more unique show than we ever have before! We're partnering with the Sacramento Amiga Computer Club and AmiWest to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Amiga and other special guests. We will have quality speakers, a large consignment area, exhibits galore and our Friday Night Social. Exhibit space will, however, be limited so we are going to be selective in the process. There is still room for talks so if you're interested or know someone who is, please let us know at vcfwest(a)vcfed.org We're looking forward to seeing you there! Take care! Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President VCF East Showrunner MARCH Fundraising Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/>

3 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0

Re: ROM to Flash Adapter for HP Portable PC ROM Drawer help

by Martin.Hepperle＠dlr.de

Mike, you might also want to have a look at https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-15356.html For testing , I have used a regular EPROM mounted on an external PCB and connected it with a ribbon cable to the ROM drawer. There are ribbon cable - DIP connectors with thin pins, which can be used without destroying the sockets inside the ROM drawer. You should not use normal pin headers as these pins are too thick and will damage the sockets. Unfortunately, many replacement solutions use such headers. You can buy individual, thin pins, but these are relatively expensive (e.g. at Mouser). The height of a replacement should be similar to a normal EPROM, so a thin PCB with a flat SMC Flash RAM might be a viable solution. This will also require a programming adapter. On the other hand, 128 KB capacity is still rather limited - e.g. Turbo-C header files are too large to fit into one EPROM, even if compressed by removing comments and whitespace. However, it should be possible to link software over two 128K modules, as was obviously done with Word Perfect in the days (see the Portable Paper). This linking requires some modification of the FAT entries in the image files, which I have not yet tried. Martin

3 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0

Need a dot-matrix impact printer?

by Van Snyder

Do you need to print on multi-part carbon or NCR forms? Do you need a dot-matrix impact printer? I have a Star Micronics SB-10 dot-matrix impact printer. It has a parallel interface. My late brother was using it so I assume it still works. None of my computers have a parallel port so I can't test it. Printer, cable, manual, spare ribbon, original shipping packaging. If you want it, it's yours for the price of a PDF shipping label, 20" x 20" x 10" 30 pounds.

3 months, 4 weeks

1
0
0 0

Vendor for data recovery from TK50 and TK25 tapes?

by dbrock＠computerhistory.org

Hello everyone! I'm new to the list, but am posting here on the suggestion of Chuck Guzis. I'm a curator at the Computer History Museum, and am trying to identify a vendor who could potentially work with us to recover data from a set of TK50 and TK25 tapes that came to us in an archival collection. Any pointers would be much appreciated. I can be reached directly at dbrock(a)computerhistory.org Thanks in advance for your time, David

4 months

3
2
0 0

networking on CTOS

by r.stricklin

Trying to experiment with TCP/IP (and, to a lesser extent, OSI and BNet cluster) networking on a Convergent/Unisys CTOS system (SuperGen SG3600). Am experiencing several anomalous results and would love to have a chat with someone who has real experience with this… if some such person is on the list. Thanks! ok bear.

4 months

2
1
0 0

VCF East 2025 tickets now on sale!

by Jeffrey Brace

https://events.humanitix.com/vintage-computer-festival-east-2025 Jeff Brace VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity

4 months

1
0
0 0

NeXT computer system...

by John Robertson

I'm just starting to clean up a NeXT system that a friend has had in storage for decades... I assume the thing has a battery somewhere - I just hope it isn't Ni-Cad! This is the original cube, monitor, keyboard (& mouse?), printer, assorted cables, and a SCSI secondary hard drive box. So far the manuals haven't shown up, but that is all online AFAICT. My plan is to give them all a good cleaning, then open up and inspect capacitors, look for batteries and any other perishable items, and then do diode checks prior to considering powering up. The remembered background story was a nearby lightning strike may have taken out the (1200 baud?) external modem, so will be paying extra attention to the serial ports! Sniff test may still be useful even after 20ish years. Any suggestions on what else to watch for on this setup prior to first power? I also will be using the Dim-Bulb setup once it seems safe to turn on. Anyone seen a common problem in power supplies for these components for example? Planned destination is auction... Thanks! John :-#)#

4 months

11
14
0 0

VCF Montréal Survey

by Jeffrey Brace

This survey is in its final days. You are invited to add your anonymous input by clicking here https://bit.ly/vcfm2026pre-en Ce sondage entre dans ses derniers jours. Vous êtes invité à ajouter vos commentaires anonymes en cliquant ici https://bit.ly/vcfm2026pre-fr DATE: January 25 & 26, 2026. LOCATION: Montréal, QC, Canada Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President

4 months

2
2
0 0

FYI: The ongoing, 40 years long search for Aleph Null

by Tomasz Rola

Howdy, The subject of Aleph Null's real identity appeared on HN... :: Who was Aleph Null? Posted on 2 September 2013 by Brian Hayes http://bit-player.org/2013/who-was-aleph-null :: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43195308 Intriguing. He must have been known by somebody, back in the day. -- Regards, Tomasz Rola -- ** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature. ** ** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home ** ** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened... ** ** ** ** Tomasz Rola mailto:tomasz_rola@bigfoot.com **

4 months

2
1
0 0

Anybody need a dot matrix impact printer?

by Van Snyder

Anybody need a dot matrix impact printer? Do you need to print multi- part forms with carbon paper or NCR paper? I have a Star Micronics SB-10 dot matrix impact printer. It has a parallel port interface. I have the cable, manual, and a spare ribbon. None of my computers have a parallel port so I haven't tried to use it. I put it on EBay, but mostly I don't want to throw it in the E-waste bin. It's yours for pickup or shipping, but I won't complain if you offer me something for it. 30lb. 20x20x10 inch box.

4 months

2
1
0 0

Thousands of new Data General documents added to the on-line archives...

by Bruce Ray

Thousands of new documents have been added to the DG legacy preservation web site [www.NovasAreForever.org], including new sections for the Nova, SuperNova, Nova 2, Nova 3, microNova, MPT, Eclipse S/130, Eclipse S/140, Eclipse S/230, Eclipse C/330, Eclipse S/280, and Desktop Generation computers.(!) Separate areas also now exist for DG disks, tapes and other peripherals. New archives for 3rd-party, DG-compatible hardware vendors have been started with this release, including those for Keronix, DCC, Bytronix and ROLM. This update reflects Wild Hare's continuing dedication [obsession?] to preserve Data General's significant part of computer history, and to help museums, universities and "restorationists" preserve DG systems worldwide. Bruce Ray www.NovasAreForever.org -- Bruce Ray, President Wild Hare Computer Systems, Inc. Denver, Colorado USA bkr(a)WildHareComputers.com ...preserving the Data General legacy: www.NovasAreForever.org

4 months, 1 week

2
1
0 0

Might be antique computer parts

by Van Snyder

I have two SPST time delay 12-volt relays packaged like vacuum tubes with octal bases, Amperite models 12N010 (ten seconds) and 12C5 (five seconds). They're in their original boxes. I have no idea what devices used them. It seems a shame to throw them in a recycle bin. Does anybody want them? Van Snyder

4 months, 1 week

2
2
0 0

Rainbow 100A Video Fault (also posted on VCF)

by Rob Jarratt

I have been trying to diagnose a video fault on my Rainbow 100A for some time now. The monitor shows an error message and some of the attributes displayed are wrong and displayed incorrectly on every line down the screen. However, the attributes being presented to the DC012 appear to be correct and the DC012 is good (I have replaced it with a spare and with a known good one, all have the same behaviour), and yet the display is wrong. I have posted this on VCF, but would like to reach a wider audience as I am really at a loss now as to what the problem could be. Picture of the problem here: https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/video-ram-fault-on-a-rainbow-100a. 1250713/post-1418966 Description of what I have found here: https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/video-ram-fault-on-a-rainbow-100a. 1250713/post-1433618 Thanks Rob

4 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

Elliott Algol

by Frank Leonhardt

As those of us with a few years will know, Tony Hoare (and Jill's) implementation of Algol 60 on the Elliott 803 was a highly significant event in the history of computer languages. It was the first practical commercial Algol compiler, launched block structures languages, and played a part in Elliott selling nearly 300 803B computers at a time when 300 computers was a big number. Obviously the US preferred Fortran and COBOL for commercial use, and there were other Algol compilers in some shape or other knocking about in universities. But I'd say this implementation put block structured programming into the mainstream. (And it was the first high level language I used, but that's beside the point). Now some kid on Wikipedia thinks it's not notable and is trying to delete it because he can't find much on it doing a Google search. Wikipedia may be sinking under activists and egos, but I think we need to put this misapprehension straight. Unfortunately we may be arguing with an idiot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_ALGOL If course, if anyone thinks it wasn't significant, that's an opinion too, but I'd like to hear why. Thanks, Frank.

4 months, 1 week

32
130
0 0

Re: Classic computers with more than one stack pointer, but not FORTH machines.

by John

On Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:00:07 -0600 Paul Koning <paulkoning(a)comcast.net> wrote: > > What is the problem with ISRs running in a user stack? The ISR > > runs, exits, the stack is cut back, and net effect on the user's > > stack is zero. > > A stack access fault in user mode kills the process, in kernel mode > (certainly in an ISR) it kills the whole system. You can't leave the > integrity of the OS at the mercy of the application having a valid > stack. Additionally, the ISR could leave potentially sensitive information in user memory, depending on exactly how the stack and memory protection are implemented. Consider an architecture where the stack pointer is a normal address register (as on the -11, the 68k, etc.) and protection is on a per-page basis with no bounds checking (i.e. there's no special address space for the stack, just a particular chunk mapped into normal user memory.) It'd be trivial for a user program to sit and "scrape" the stack for stray bits left by passing ISRs - say, waiting to see if the UART service routine happens to jot down something that looks like an admin password coming off one of the terminals.

4 months, 1 week

4
5
0 0

Re: Elliott Algol

by Paul McJones

> On19 Feb 2025 18:39:08 -0500, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: > >>> >>>> One of most ingenious coding tricks to me was the problem of saving and >>>> restoring all registers without resorting to an exchange jump. We used >>>> that one as a test for applicants. >>> >>> Argh... I know I've seen this trick, but it's been too many years. How >>> about a hint? >> >> It uses the RJ instruction to record register content, bit-by-bit. >> Think about it--RJ is about the only instruction that can modify memory >> without fiddling with the A6 and A7 registers. >> > > Of course... I vaguely recalled there was a bit-by-bit save, but didn't > think of the RJ. Thanks. A full example of this code is in the DEBUG package of CAL SNOBOL <https://mcjones.org/CAL_SNOBOL/>, starting at label SAVEREG: Original version: https://mcjones.org/CAL_SNOBOL/UArizona/SNOBOL.MAC.html Revised version: https://mcjones.org/CAL_SNOBOL/UTexas/DEBUG.html

4 months, 1 week

1
0
0 0

IBM 4506 (old message)

by Tommy Chang

I saw an email posted to the predecessor mail list asking if anyone had a picture of an IBM 4506 terminal. I was looking through the September 1973 issue Modern Data and saw an article on page 70 about the New York Times’s indexing efforts. It said that they were using IBM 4506 terminals and it has a picture of a large workroom (identified as “The Times index room”) with a bunch of terminals which I assume must be 4506’s (although the caption does not explicitly state that). The magazine is available on BitSavers. Look for the issue with file name Modern_Data_1973_07.pdf. Tommy Chang

4 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Classic computers with more than one stack pointer, but not FORTH machines.

by ben

Did any classic computers have a subroutine call as (S++)=PC, PC=(EFA) as well as the standard call (--S)=PC,PC=(EFA) ? One could have a virtual stack machine, using helper functions without having to deal with return addresses on the stack. Ben.

4 months, 2 weeks

16
27
0 0

Re: Classic computers with more than one stack pointer, but not FORTH machines.

by John

On Tue, 18 Feb 2025 12:00:10 -0600 cctalk-request(a)classiccmp.org wrote: > On the more than "one stack pointer" in the subject, it was a bit > arbitrary on the PDP-11 (or VAX) as the pre/post indexed indirect > addressing made every register a stack pointer. But this is where I > get hazy between DEC and 68K, and I did a lot more 68K. I'm pretty > sure you could do a move.l PC, An and you could certainly do an > indirect jmp (An), so effectively you could have multiple call stacks > if you wanted. Almost, kinda-sorta. The JSR and RTS instructions are hard-wired to use R6/SP, and there's nothing you can do about that. You *can* implement a return off another "stack" by doing e.g. MOV @(Rn)+, PC as long as you save the return address by hand, first - but this affects the flags, unlike JSR/RTS.

4 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

HAWLEY X063X Mark II and XEROX Star mice

by hupfadekroua

Hi all, I‘m offering HAWLEY X063X, XEROX Star rollerball and optical mice. If interested contact me offlist please. Best Andreas

4 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

VCF SoCal 2025 recap

by Steve Lewis

Happened to be in the area, so I checked out VCF SoCal last weekend. Glad I did, wow Lee Felsenstein was able to present ! What a treat. VCF SoCal 2025 — voidstar <https://voidstar.blog/vcf-socal-2025/> https://voidstar.blog/vcf-socal-2025/

4 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Re: Elliott Algol

by Paul McJones

> On 15 Feb 2025 18:41:21 -0800,Van Snyder <van.snyder(a)sbcglobal.net <mailto:van.snyder@sbcglobal.net>> wrote: > > Harry Husky, the G15 designer, was one of the computer design pioneers. > He became a professor (maybe adjunct) at UC Berkeley. As far as I know, Huskey was a regular professor. Two of his Ph.D. students went on to win the ACM Turing Award: Niklaus Wirth and Butler Lampson: https://mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=10185 Huskey went on to found the Computer Science department at U.C. Santa Cruz.

4 months, 2 weeks

2
2
0 0

Re: Elliott Algol

by Paul McJones

> On 16 Feb 2025 18:00:35 -0700,ben <bfranchuk(a)jetnet.ab.ca <mailto:bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca>> wrote: > > I have trouble understanding the fine points of accessing a local > variable in Algol with a display. Books tend to spend more time > on the evils of a dangling else, and gloss over the run time action of > a display. > Have a good example or reference book I can find free on line. The original book on that subject is ALGOL 60 Implementation by B. Randell and L. J. Russell. It’s available here with permission from the copyright holder: https://www.softwarepreservation.org/projects/ALGOL/algol60impl/#ALGOL_60_I…

4 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Open source a panacea?

by Donald Whittemore

I am an old mainframe guy. I could give you my COBOL deck of cards or the compile listing. You could pour through the code looking for nefarious/malicious code. I then hand you the object deck. You have no idea if it matches the code you looked at. The only way you could be sure is to compile the code I gave you and use your own object deck. So why is open source these days such a beneficial thing? DeepSeek may be open source but I have no way to create my own executable. Besides, I don’t know what language it is written in but I bet I have no expertise in it. No way to for me to identify nasty code. Yes, many people may have reviewed the code but that does not mean what I am running is the result of that code.

4 months, 2 weeks

21
50
0 0

Re: Elliott Algol

by Dr. Erik Baigar

Hi Van, just wanted to point out, that there is a 803 emulator out there: https://www.peteronion.org.uk/Elliott/ I have got a real 900 series machine running, which is from the very early 1970ies and also runs a form of Elliott Algol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-gF5g0nnoE Best wishes, Erik. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ''~`` ( o o ) +--------------------------.oooO--(_)--Oooo.-------------------------+ | Dr. Erik Baigar Inertial Navigation & | | Salzstrasse 1 .oooO Vintage Computer | | D87616 Marktoberdorf ( ) Oooo. Hobbyist / Physicist | | erik(a)baigar.de +------\ (----( )---------------------------+ | www.baigar.de | \_) ) / +----------------------+ (_/

4 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Re: RS232 then and now

by Robert Feldman

>Message: 31 >Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2025 07:29:15 +0000 >From: Tony Duell <ard.p850ug1(a)gmail.com> >Subject: [cctalk] Re: RS232 then and now > >On Sat, Feb 1, 2025 at 10:54 PM Fred Cisin via cctalk ><cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: > > >> >> IBM used a DB25 socket for their printer port at the computer end, >> (male on the card for serial, female on the card for parallel "Centronics") >> THAT, of course caused some idiots to attempt to use the parallel port for >> serial and vice versa. "I just need a 'gender changer'!" :-) > >The worst screw-up there (IMHO) came from HP in the HP150 series. This >machine had 2 RS232 serial ports as standard on DB25 sockets, wired >for some inexplicable reason as DTEs. There was an add-on board that >included a parallel printer port. To avoid confusion, this was a DB25 >plug. But the board had been laid out for a DB25 socket using the IBM >PC pinout. The result was that stb/ ended up on pin 13, D0 on pin 12, >and so on. > >-tony > My vote for the worst connector screw-up is the AT&T (Olivetti) 6300. Its monochrome monitor used a DB25 to supply both the signals and 12 volts to power the monitor. Bob

4 months, 2 weeks

7
8
0 0

RS232 - parallel modems!?

by Steve Lewis

I was about to ask if anyone ever built a "Parallel Modem" - but I searched around first, and lo and behold, Microcom did ! (v.fast / v.34 era, c. 1996) The drivers refer to Win3.1/Win95 era (I'm not seeing where they had DOS support). But I'm still not sure if I'm understanding the product (which I found described here Microcom Parallel Port Modem <https://strom.com/pubwork/cw294.html> From a programming perspective, you just set your parallel bits and mash the STROBE pin, right? Then figure some reasonable delay between iterations of doing that. You don't need starts/stop or parity bits. So I get how that is more efficient (but question is, why wasn't it built sooner? I think it's a long answer when you look at the historical build up of modems, and that serial-port based modems were "fast enough" at the time) So.. If you had a slow system that couldn't really take advantage of a ~7MHz 16550 serial card (or I guess like a laptop that was stuck with an older UART) That might be the use-case where this parallel v.fast might help (by being able to "feed the modem" fast enough to actually take advantage of the faster modem speed?) Or is there some other scenario NOTE, in the articled linked above, it does mention that it is only "value added" if you have this parallel-modem on both sides of the connection. (this is because you'll be flow controlled to whatever is the slower device in the connection?) Related but different question: Is there any "natural rate" (Hz) of a modem? Meaning is 1200/2400 baud-equivalent modem an accelerated-by-enhanced-encoding version of 300 bps? and 9600 likewise an accelerated-by-encoding version of 2400? is 300bps itself some kind of special accelerated-by-encoding? I see 1200 baud was also still sub 3KHz (did any modem protocol go above 3KHz?). Or maybe I need to ask it this way: did 300 baud modems use a more 1:1 translation of the data-word bits into Hz signal over the modem (giving a more "natural" translation rate?) But then beyond that speed, does a modem need to "cache" a few bytes and determine some encoding scheme to then give modems an apparent speed boost? (is that "kind-of" like USB's 8B/10B? (not in implementation, but in the general concept that a different encoding can result in improved data throughput, without actual faster movement of that data?) I guess it gets into the "secret sauce" approaches of how vendors figured out these encoding approaches (v.32bis, etc), and give their product competitive advantages (but only if you could convince enough ISPs to adopt your protocol, by buying your modem device). My daughter made me finally watch Blackberry recently, it's an interesting telling of that story (of a small business selling their tech to USR, and also that they tackled a version of encryption) -Steve

4 months, 2 weeks

20
44
0 0

"Re: Re: Elliott Algol"

by Paul Pierce

Al has a reader at CHM. They can read tapes too, my 7-track setup is now at System Source. Paul > On Sat, 2025-02-15 at 14:52 +0000, Sid Jones via cctalk wrote: > > IIRC, I have a copy of the Elliot 803 A-103 Algol compiler on a five- > > hole > > tape in a drawer somewhere in my untidy office... > > > > As used in UCNW Bangor, 1971-1974. > > There might be a reader somewhere. If anybody has (or developes) an > 803B emulator, it would be nice to have the compiler. > > Paul Pierce read several IBM 1401 tapes. The Computer History Museum in > Mountain View, CA has two operating 1401s, and the SimH project has an > emulator. It's nice to have the Autocoder assembler, FORTRAN II and > FORTRAN IV compilers, COBOL compiler, â¦ to use. There are students at > San Jose State University who go to classes in 1401 programming at CHM. > > Maybe Paul has a paper tape reader too. > > > >

4 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Dan Sokol (and bits about the Apple I and the 6502 procurement)

by Jim Brain

https://thisistrue.com/sokol-behind-scenes/ It's probably not overly important how the 6502s got sourced for the Apple I, but here's a different take. Debate as you see fit, I'm just the messenger. Jim -- Jim Brain brain(a)jbrain.com www.jbrain.com

4 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

RS232 then and now

by Steve Lewis

Hey all! So, I've found myself studying up on RS-232 this year for a few reasons. I'm mulling over doing an RS232 themed talk at June VCF. Not a super exciting topic, but I do think that RS232 has an interesting history: In the SAGE relationship, and as a follow up to (essentially) prior telegraph communication. From what I've read, "50 baud" was a kind of an initial goal to beat, since that's what the top telegraph operators could achieve (in small burst, probably not all day). And those operators did have to also deal with things like start/stop "bits". Maybe it wasn't an intentional goal, but just that it establishes why "50 baud" is generally the lowest we ever see mentioned (or, if you go slower than that, might as well use the older tech). Then 75/110/130 baud to have digital-systems interoperate with classic mechanical teletypes. Going any faster and those systems jam up or overheat? These weren't yet called "serial ports", so I'm not sure what a late 50s system would even call their equipment that facilitate this data exchange (since I'm not sure what kind of crystal-clock they even had yet). Then, was it the SAGE program that demonstrated the idea of doing this kind of data exchange across copper phone lines? That is, the idea of computers collaborating not just in a room, but across long distances (miles)? And doing so by using an audio tone presentation? (they settled on around 3100MHz, which ended up translating to 300 baud? hence, that's basically why the first digital to digital system data exchange settled on that baud rate, which was reliable on both 50 and 60Hz power systems, and meaningfully faster than prior 110 baud - so a good milestone to turn it into a product, which was the Bell Model 103?). I couldn't find much details (like a manual) on the Bell 101 equipment (anyone seen one or have a manual?). But I did find the Bell 103 manual - the photo of its innards is grainy, so I don't understand how the Bell 103 did 300 baud without a UART (and one of the pinout lines I see did run power, so not sure if that's-yet RS232 or not; I know RS232 was evolving right at that same time circa 1962). I've about the 1970ish TR1402 initial DIP UART, with anything prior being an experiment (like a full board concept by DEC). I know from 1962, both RS232 and ASCII standards still took maybe another decade to really gain traction as standards (at least, from what I've read). Getting the world to comply with any standard always takes a lot of effort (for a practical reason of everyone still having invested in the older tooling that was still functional). But it's interesting how those two standards are still in use (not in their original form, but least the 1967 revisions) - extending from Baudot.and late 1800s-tech on telegraphs. Does anyone know of any grocery stories using RS232 in the 1960s? I think barcode scanning was just introduced in that era. I can just imagine a smart grocery store owner, in the backroom programming their minicomputer for payroll and inventory management. In FORTRAN and without a CRT? Actually, in the 60s, I think included software would be negotiated with the provider of the computer (well, I'm not sure how that differed between minis and mainframes). I know early microcomputers used RS232 for keyboards (1974-1976 era). The IBM PC keyboard is essentially another form of serial. Well, sorry for the rambling - have other RS232 related questions, but first wanted to focus on the historical aspects (and see if I'm somewhat on the right track at least). -Steve

4 months, 2 weeks

31
114
0 0

Ad-blocking (was Re: Open source a panacea?)

by John

On Fri, 14 Feb 2025 12:00:07 -0600 cctalk-request(a)classiccmp.org wrote: > I can't believe people do use it any more without filtering. I've > used an ad-blocking web browser for some years but I occasionally see > the real thing when setting up a new machine. Absurd. It really is astonishing how bad it's gotten - fully the equal of the early '00s when sites might just spawn a dozen pop-ups and only one of the major browsers let you block them, only now there's a pile of JS mining crypto in the background, to boot :/ Been running with NoScript and an ad-blocker as my standard configuration for many, many years now, but it's always sobering to get a look at what other people see...

4 months, 2 weeks

3
2
0 0

NCR EM-D2 Card reader manual

by Mattis Lind

I am about to get a NCR EM-D2 card reader, but I can not find much documentation on it. Is there anyone here that has documentation on it? Preferably a maintenance manual. A couple of years ago (perhaps in February 2021 if one studies how they indexed the file in their storage) there was a sale of a maintenance manual on Ebay according to the below Worthpoint link. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1965-ncr-em-d2-punched-card-reader-3… Did anyone here buy this manual? I am very interested in a scan of this manual or possibly to purchase the manual. /Mattis

4 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Mid-Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists Hack-a-Thon

by Jeffrey Brace

DATE: March 8 & 9, 2025 LOCATION: InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ Fee: None *More info here*: https://vcfed.org/2025/02/13/march-hack-a-thon/

4 months, 2 weeks

2
1
0 0

Looking for information on Megan Gentry, former RT-11 developer

by Hans-Ulrich Hölscher

Does anyone know anything about the whereabouts of Megan Gentry, former RT-11 developer? She left her last trace in 2020, when she ported ZEMU to RT-11.

4 months, 3 weeks

6
6
0 0

Vintage Computer Festival Montreal Survey

by Jeffrey Brace

We invite you to take part in a brief, anonymous survey about VCF Montreal. Click here https://bit.ly/vcfm2026pre-en Nous vous invitons à participer à un bref sondage anonyme sur VCF Montréal. Cliquez ici https://bit.ly/vcfm2026pre-fr Jeff Brace Vintage Computer Federation Vice President

4 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0

Use (abuse?) of a 7924 in a +24 PS...

by William Sudbrink

I'm repairing/restoring a later model MITS 8 inch floppy drive. I can not seem to find schematics for it. It is the same as Bill Degnan has here: https://vintagecomputer.net/MITS/88-DCDD/ You can see in his photos (and mine match) that the _plus_ 24 volt DC supply on the board uses a 7924 (note the 9. negative) voltage regulator, with a small heat sink, directly on the circuit board. Along with a couple of 7805s, there is a .Motorola 2n6045 screwed to the large black heat sink. All three of the devices drop into sockets on the circuit board to allow the heat sink to be easily installed/removed. On my unit, the socket for the 2n6045 was burnt to a crisp. I have replace the socket, the 2n6045, the 7924 and the electrolytic caps. When I test the +24 volt rail with a dummy load, it measures +41 volts. I don't understand this circuit. I know MITS was notorious for its power supplies. Does anyone have the schematics for this version of the 8 inch floppy? Any suggestions? Thanks, Bill S. -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com

4 months, 3 weeks

2
4
0 0

Re: Looking for IBM 2723

by Tony White

A 2838 card can be used instead of a 2723. keith

4 months, 4 weeks

1
0
0 0

Re: Looking for IBM 2723

by Tony White

You can use a 2838 card instead of the 2723.

4 months, 4 weeks

1
0
0 0

Microsoft 50 years

by Christian Liendo

I was debating sending this, but Microsoft is part of computing history and fifty years is a milestone. https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-50/

5 months

14
21
0 0

Re: RS232 then and now

by Robert Feldman

>Message: 26 >Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2025 18:13:17 -0500 >From: Nigel Johnson Ham <g4ajq1(a)gmail.com> >Subject: [cctalk] Re: RS232 then and now > >On 2025-02-01 18:11, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: >> One mystery to me was why did the industry stick with the EIA-232 levels >> for terminals and whatnot long after differential EIA-422 was >> introduced. Higher-speed, better noise immunity, single-ended power >> supply... Seems that the popular places were Appletalk and ST506 data >> lines. But not on DTE/DCE. If you were using full-voltage (±15-±25) >> at high speeds (>500Kbps), the slew rates were ridiculous. >> >> Inertia? My old 80286 motherboard had junper-selectable 232 or 422. >> >> Still have a couple of tubes of 422 drivers/receivers. >> >> --Chuck >> >DEC had RS422 available on their DLJ11J four-port interface, but I never >saw it used in the field. > The Otrona Attache has two serial ports, DA-15 female, that are jumper selectable between RS-232C, RS-422 or RS-423. Bob

5 months

1
0
0 0

A baudy tale

by Donald Whittemore

In the early 70s my employer used stand alone data entry tape units in our remote locations. We started with NCR units but then switched to Tally. In the late afternoon the data would be transmitted to the home office in Chicago for processing. Also using NCR/Tally units. We used Racal-Milgo modems. These things were about the size of a large home stereo receiver. We started at 2400 baud. The units could do 3600 or 4800 (I don’t remember which) if a circuit board strap was moved. We had locations in many cities/towns all the way out to Montana. It was decided that we needed to have the ability to switch between 2400 and the faster speed when possible. We did not want to have the locals power off the modem, open it up, remove a card and move the strap. So I got volunteered to come up with a plan. I found a place in the modem where I could mount a switch. Luckily the modem had a sliding panel on the front so the locals would not have to open the box top. Went to our fleet garage where they had the tools I needed. I made a bunch of aluminum brackets for a tiny toggle switch. Added wires to the switch. It was also decided that we could not trust the locals to do the switch install. So part of the plan included me going to all the locations and doing the install. I did not have a car at the time so I got a fleet car. Headed south to Kentucky then turned west. Don’t remember all the states I hit but I believe the last place I hit on the way home was Rockford. I remember being on a back road in Montana and I took a picture of my speedometer. I was doing 65. This was when there was a countrywide speed limit of 55. I can’t be limited by the Man. :) Back at the home office we had 6 NCR/Tally machines and only 4 modems. I built a plug panel box that had everything wired to it and used telephone jack plugs to connect the Tally’s to an available modem. The box also had switches for the modem speed. I now forget how long the whole process took. Put my DeVry AAS degree to good use. :)

5 months

12
15
0 0

Re: Microsoft history

by Murray McCullough

Microsoft, or is it Micro-Soft or MICROSOFT, is a 50 yr. old trans-national corporation. Whether it has been good or not-so-good for society is debatable but on the financial-side its been very kind to investors(the earliest ones anyways). Capitalism certainly owes Microsoft a good nod! Happy computing. Murray 🙂

5 months

3
2
0 0

Re: Seeking a MC75325L Dual Memory Driver

by pbirkel＠gmail.com

Follow-up: Vendor now on eBay for Fairchild 75325DC in lots-of-five; they accepted my Best Offer. https://www.ebay.com/itm/333675901157 So now I can get back to making some progress on repairing the H222A in my MM11-DP :-}! From: pbirkel(a)gmail.com Sent: Friday, March 11, 2022 10:01 AM To: General Discussion: On-Topic Posts <cctech(a)classiccmp.org> Subject: Seeking a MC75325L Dual Memory Driver I have here in my hands a DEC H222A (16Kx18), part of a MM11-DP, that took a blow at sometime in the past. In consequence there are a number of small parts damaged (snapped diode, crushed axial electrolytic, chipped mica capacitor, cracked/broken SIP resister net) but those all appear to be relatively easy to replace. What's not so easy to replace is the MC75325L Dual Memory Driver (L = Ceramic) that was de-lidded in the process :-<. I am wondering whether anyone has one of these ICs in their spare parts drawer that I could acquire? I do see a MC75325P (plastic) on eBay at littlediode_components for ~20USD, plus a surprisingly modest shipping charge (Royal Mail International). UTSOURCE claims to have a supplier of the ceramic part "new", with a significantly higher shipping charge. Before I go with the ceramic part (IMO not the sort of packaging that gets . remarked) I thought that I would check here for alternative sources. Thank you, paul

5 months

1
0
0 0

Re: How enough is Enough? Was Re: Re: AI? Really?

by Kevin Anderson

I prefer to use the Daily Digest mode. Then you can quickly glance at the topics and decide whether it is worth reading any particular messages. The pain comes when you may want to contribute something, as then you need to reconstruct enough of the message of concern in a new composition and reply that way. Kevin Anderson Dubuque, Iowa

5 months, 1 week

2
1
0 0

Re: AI? Really?

by donald donaldwhittemore.com

I don’t trip and fall. I perform gravity checks.

5 months, 1 week

11
12
0 0

Re: AI? Really?

by Robert Feldman

Message: 3 Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2025 08:44:29 -0700 From: ben <bfranchuk(a)jetnet.ab.ca> Subject: [cctalk] Re: AI? Really? On 2025-01-23 8:15 a.m., Alexander Schreiber wrote: On Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 12:52:49PM -0700, ben via cctalk wrote: On 2025-01-21 10:54 a.m., Paul Koning wrote: Uh, what? How would the earth surface gravity be that much different? "Citation needed" as Wikipedia would say. paul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodynamics Ah, crackpot nonsense: "mainstream physicists have considered autodynamics a crackpot theory for decades" - which is right there on the Wikipedia page. Kind regards, Alex. How lucky I am that I am not a "mainstream physicist". A true scientist looks at the evidence, not what is discussed by others. I also like the expanding earth theory, vs continental drift. Where is all that energy to move the plates around. The answer to your question is one that even mainstream physicists (Lord Kelvin) have gotten wrong in the past. See https://www.americanscientist.org/article/kelvin-perry-and-the-age-of-the-e…

5 months, 1 week

13
16
0 0

AI? Really?

by Bill Gunshannon

A little humor for the group. Among my other "legacy" systems I also have and still fool around with a bunch of TRS-80's. Believe it or not, the Z80 based TRS-80's were among the systems for which a version of STVOS was available. Thought I would look to see if any of it was still floating around. Asked Google "TRS-80 Software Tools Virtual Operating System" Got this result at the top of my response generated by whatever AI engine they use. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A "TRS-80 Software Tools Virtual Operating System" refers to a software program that allows a modern computer to emulate a vintage TRS-80 computer, essentially creating a virtual environment where you can run old TRS-80 software, including operating systems like TRSDOS, by simulating the hardware and functionality of the original machine, letting you access and use programs designed for the TRS-80 on your current computer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- That is the biggest pile of steaming poo I have ever seen come out of any of the various AI engines I have run into. Not one piece of it is accurate other than the mention of TRSDOS. I also have a bunch of iRobot Roombas in my house. Based on my experience with AI and robots I think there is no chance we will have to worry about any Terminators in the future. bill

5 months, 1 week

29
72
0 0

TMS9981A - CPU needed...

by John Robertson

Hi Folks! Anyone have one or more of the old TI CPUs? The usual suspects don't stock it (Unicorn, Abra, Jameco...). I have a customers game board in where the CPU was backwards and previously destroyed... In case anyone is curious the game was from Japan - Universal's COSMIC GUERILLA. This is NOT the TMS9918A - video chip - that some folks are trying to emulate with Raspberry Pi(e)s. Thanks! John :-#)# -- John's Jukes Ltd. 7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3 Call (604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games) flippers.com "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out"

5 months, 1 week

3
3
0 0

Re: Ram and vram

by Teo Zenios

How much for the quadra VRAM and how many are there? -----------------------------------------From: "Juan del Pino via cctalk" To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Cc: "Juan del Pino" Sent: Tuesday January 21 2025 11:24:00AM Subject: [cctalk] Ram and vram Hello, people: anyone interested? hitachi hb56a19a. 150 TC514400ASJ-70 256KB VRAM Apple Macintosh Quadra 700 900 950 68-Pin SIMM RAM 70ns MT42C8128DJ-7 50 IBM Memory Ram 4MB 1M x 32 B1D1320BA-7 DRAM SIMM 72 PINES 60NS 16MB TI TMS417409ADJ-2E. x2 Thanks

5 months, 1 week

2
1
0 0

Ram and vram

by Juan del Pino

Hello, people: anyone interested? hitachi hb56a19a. 150 TC514400ASJ-70 256KB VRAM Apple Macintosh Quadra 700 900 950 68-Pin SIMM RAM 70ns MT42C8128DJ-7 50 IBM Memory Ram 4MB 1M x 32 B1D1320BA-7 DRAM SIMM 72 PINES 60NS 16MB TI TMS417409ADJ-2E. x2 Thanks

5 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Looking for bootable floppy image for a PDP11/20

by Martin Eberhard

I'm in the process of restoring a PDP11/20. Here is what is working so far: KA11 PDP11/20 CPU , power supply, programmer's console, etc. 32Kx16 SRAM/ROM board of my own design (Core memory will come later!) KE11-A Extended Arithmetic Element RX211 controller with RX02 drive, cleaned, spindle bearings replaced, aligned, tested, and working DL11-W Serial Line Unit with Real-Time Clock DL11 2nd serial port, modified to operate at 19,200 baud VT100, connected to the DL11-W I've written a program that lets me load a raw disk image (via Xmodem protocol) from the serial port onto a floppy disk, and verify the write. This works great, for both single-density and double-density. (It can set the media density as needed too.) I'm now looking for a bootable RT-11 floppy disk image (just a raw image, e.g. .IMG) that can boot and run on this limited hardware. The file should be exactly 256,256 bytes long if single-density, or 512,512 bytes long of double-density. (Actually, anything bootable on this hardware would be appreciated!) I'm new to this forum - let me know what is the protocol for giving you my email address... Thanks! Martin E.

5 months, 2 weeks

6
9
0 0

null modem for DEC Pro 380

by Cameron Kaiser

DEC Pro owners: does the DEC Professional use a straight-thru serial cable, or null? -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser(a)floodgap.com -- BOND THEME NOW PLAYING: "All-Time High" from "Octopussy" -------------------

5 months, 2 weeks

2
5
0 0

VCF EAST 2025 CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!

by Jeffrey Brace

Volunteers are the backbone of making VCF East one of the best vintage computer shows. We are in need of volunteers in all areas. VCF East 2025 <https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/> takes place April 4-6 in Wall, NJ at the InfoAge Science and History Museums. Register to become a volunteer today! <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScRIqB1ZuseQ2ANYszT2RTw2_AMnnCv0ZI…> Click here to read Volunteer FAQ <https://vcfed.org/vcf-east-volunteers-faq/> Thanks! Jeff Brace VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/>

5 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

AI? Really?

by Anders Gustafsson

Yes. I tried Operas Aria and asked a bit about HP1000 A-series. I started by asking the difference between A900 and A400 and got a reply that was partly correct, then followed up with some specific questions about the A400 that I happen to know rather well. It insisted that it had only 32Mb and it corrected itself. But the problem as always was that the answer LOOKED ok, but there was no way, without prior knowledge to weed out the errors. -- Med vänlig hälsning Anders Gustafsson, ingenjör

5 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

New DRAM (SIMM) board works but gives a parity error, only on cold powerup

by Anders Gustafsson

OK. As usual was the problem quite evident, once I understood it... I have two A400 boards. On that board I tested with I never took note of switch 8. It was unfortunately set to OFF indicating that there was backup power for memory. Thus the power lost flag was never set, which caused the parity error on startup. -- Med vänlig hälsning Anders Gustafsson, ingenjör

5 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

CDC Cyber 18x parts

by hupfadekroua

Hello all, I‘m searching the following CDC parts: 52948476 CM Board extender 91915206 CM Board extender 24614635 ZIF Board extender Of course I do know looking for such kind of items in our days may be some kind of peculiar, but who knows … Andreas

5 months, 2 weeks

2
2
0 0

Try Algol 68 on Windows

by Mike Parr

Hello all. Here is a link to something I wrote - brief intro to Algol 68's background, and how to run it on Windows - with a toy IDE as well. https://mikeparr.info/algol68.html Mike Parr

5 months, 2 weeks

25
68
0 0

Re: AI? Really?

by donald donaldwhittemore.com

Skynet became self-aware on August 29, 1997, at 2:14 a.m. EDT.

5 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

OT: not that classic but already old: Cubieboard2

by Holm Tiffe

Hi all, I've got 3 pcs. Cubieboard 2 SBC's with the Allwinner A20 SOC Chip on them. That's kind of a RaspberryPi SBC with an 2 Code Arm7hf on it. The boards are equipped with HDMI, USB, Ethernet (100Tx), SATA, SD Card slot and some 4G NAND Flash Cip on it. RAM is 1 Gbyte, CPU Clock is 996Mhz. Additionally I've bought some Base Boards for them, that's the DVK521 from Waveshare..contains the Baseboard, an Camera Module OV670, a 7" LCD with LVDS, a thermo sensor and other things.. Good HW in my eyes, but already outdated. I wnt to use the boards for some Home/house related stuff, PV, heating, Light control etc. and for that they should be more than enough. The Chips even have an graphics accelerator in the SOC. Now the Problem: as far as I know Allwinner has made some mistake using gnu/Linux stuff without any respecting the GPL. Because of that (if no other cause) most of the support Software on the net seems to be gone. There where some different Linux distributions for it, (Linaro, Cubieez etc) but most of the stuff isn't available anymore because of dead links. I've successfully build an modern Armbian image for them..but have endless trouble. The Xserver configutres an not existing Video Output, the LCD is unknown at all and if I manage to switch the X-server to the HDMI output using xrandr (only with tricks because it needs a session) the performance is like some old thick glue... Besides of that I had to fix an already for 8 years known Bug in the A20 Ethernet driver (it simpy has a more modern ethernet Unit as the A10 inside) that was'nt fixed at all. Armbian has only "community Support" fo those chips..which means that there is no support at all. If one asks for help the answer is more or less "find it yourself and provide a patch". I have an Linaro disk image that seems to be working, but there are some parts missing. The base distribution seems to be ubuntu 12.04 LTS (precise Pangolin) for armhf. I can't find a package repository anymore..(since that's long outdated). I've managed to install ssh by using an tarball of an ubuntu 12.04 armhf image for another board..and it works..but sshd is still missing. There are more modern disk images at https://mega.nz/folder/ZtwxCCJC#AIYHcTqz-ucjuzKnE9qD7A/folder/t0p2SBQD but mostly they don't even boot..possibly they using an newer/other uboot and uboot-envirnonment... Now the question: Is someone in the world still using those boards and has disk images/software for them? Again: I'ts not that much interesting that this is old linux, because I'll use that only inhouse in the lan, not browsing actual websites.. I'm a BSD guy and not know that much about Linux, especially such things as configurations for uboot etc. and there is none that I could ask for such things. Kind Regards, Holm -- Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, Goethestrasse 15, 09569 Oederan, USt-Id: DE253710583 info(a)tsht.de Tel +49 37292 709778 Mobil: 0172 8790 741

5 months, 2 weeks

3
3
0 0

Fanuc Tape Reader PECs 1980's - Connector Identification

by Martin Bishop

1980's Fanuc tape reader PECs are fitted with two families of connector I am unfamiliar with : one is used for power and the other for signal connections -further detail and pictures in the following VCF post No joy on Burndy website or at BitSavers - wisdom gratefully received https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/fanuc-pec-connectors-who-is-the-o… Martin

5 months, 2 weeks

7
15
0 0

Fwd: SBC6128

by Doug Jackson

Hi Dave, I'll send this to the group, I suspect my email made it into your spam. Doug ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Doug Jackson <doug(a)doughq.com> Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2025, 6:05 am Subject: Re: SBC6128 To: <dave.g4ugm(a)gmail.com> Hi Dave, I was just researching the IOB6120 (I had an 8 at the end of the model.. sigh - memory is often faulty) WOW - I had no idea that existed. I also had no idea that the community picked up Bob's designs and ran with them so enthusiastically - I feel like I have been under a rock for quite a while. I would be very very happy to purchase your board + IOB that you have put together - If the enclosure is not ideal, I am very happy to update that - these little boards are awesome. Just let me know a Paypal address and shipping details. Kindest regards, Doug Jackson em: doug(a)doughq.com ph: 0414 986878 Follow my amateur radio adventures at vk1zdj.net On Tue, 14 Jan 2025 at 05:37, Doug Jackson <doug(a)doughq.com> wrote: > Hi Dave, > > Thanks so much for that. > > Yes, postage is a pain, but necessary. > > If you are not using it, then the partially built one makes sense > (assuming you can find the programable logic and CPU). > > Failing that, then I don't mind paying the 250 Pounds for the built board > as long as it's complete :-) As I said, I was devastated. > > Are you able to double check and send me some photos. > > For a shipping address, I am at: > > Doug Jackson > 5 Pinschof Place, > Gordn, ACT, 2906 > Australia > +61 414 986878 > > Kindest regards, > > Doug Jackson > > em: doug(a)doughq.com > ph: 0414 986878 > > Follow my amateur radio adventures at vk1zdj.net > >

5 months, 2 weeks

3
6
0 0

New DRAM (SIMM) board works but gives a parity error, only on cold powerup

by Anders Gustafsson

Hi! I have been mostly lurking here, but I have been designing a DRAM board for the HP1000 A-Series, using a more modern 72-pin SIMM. The A400 can adress 32Mb of parity ram so I use 17 bits on a 64Mb SIMM. I have taken inspiration from the original HP12103X boards and tried to keep away from esoteric parts. The board prototype works now and passes all tests, except that it gives a partity error in one of the first addresses (ie 2,7,10 octal) when booted cold. If I then run a %T it works fine, and also if I reset by bringing PON low. I have tested with different SIMMs and the two different types I have tested both exhibit the same issue. The 64Mb one has Samsung KM41C16000C chips. As this is for hobby-use, it is not a big deal as the board works, otherwise, but it is annoying. If anyone here, and I expect there are several that have worked with DRAM chips, have any suggestions on this issue or the board in general? Schematic is here:www.dalton.ax/hp1000/Memory/HP1000RAM_SIMM_Buffers_20241130.pdf Yes. I have also written protocol decodes for the KingstWiz LA5032 32-bit LA to analyse the HP memory bus if anyone is interested. -- Med vänlig hälsning Anders Gustafsson, ingenjör

5 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

DECtalk for Digital UNIX

by Cameron Kaiser

Anyone out there collecting Digital UNIX or Tru64 stuff? I'm trying to find the Alpha version of DECtalk V4.2A that ran on Digital UNIX. The readme file is easy to find but not the actual package. If you know where it is or have a good guess, I'd be much obliged (and so will this AlphaPC 164LX running Tru64 5.1B). -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser(a)floodgap.com -- The surest test of discipline is its absence. -- Clara Barton --------------

5 months, 2 weeks

1
0
0 0

Not Try Algol 68 on Windows

by Lyndon Nerenberg (VE7TFX/VE6BBM)

Could we maybe change the subject headers here? Neither Fortran nor IBM terminal controllers has anything to do with Algol :-)

5 months, 2 weeks

2
1
0 0

Re: Try Algol 68 on Windows

by Paul McJones

This sounds like FLACC (Full Language Algol68 Checkout Compiler) by Chris Thomson and Colin Broughton: "You know, we only ever got 22 copies installed, and less than 5 of those in North America. Even though it ran on 370's under MVS, CMS and MTS, and was cheap and reliable. Talk about a marketing disaster. " [Chris Thomson, comp.lang.misc, November 27, 1988] https://www.softwarepreservation.org/projects/ALGOL/algol68impl/#FLACC > Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2025 07:02:08 -0800 > From: "Lyndon Nerenberg (VE7TFX/VE6BBM)" <lyndon(a)orthanc.ca <mailto:lyndon@orthanc.ca>> > Subject: [cctalk] Re: Try Algol 68 on Windows > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org>> > Message-ID: <58bac767a09d3a37(a)orthanc.ca <mailto:58bac767a09d3a37@orthanc.ca>> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Mike Parr via cctalk writes: >> Hello all. >> Here is a link to something I wrote - brief intro to Algol 68's background, a >> nd how to run it on Windows - with a toy IDE as well. > > This triggers a fuzzy memory of an Algol 68 compiler running on > MTS at the U of Alberta, circa 1980. ISTR Chris Thompson at UofA > Computing Services had a hand in its development. > > Was this just a UofA thing? Did it escape to other MTS installations? > Did anyone use it to write substantial programs on MTS? Or was it > intended for Comp. Sci. teaching purposes? > > --lyndon

5 months, 3 weeks

10
13
0 0

Re: Try Algol 68 on Windows

by donald donaldwhittemore.com

Yes, but punch cards did not have to worry about magnets. 😊

5 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0

Re: FOCAL history

by Paul McJones

Note in his "FOCAL Notes and Background <http://www.softwarepreservation.net/projects/FOCAL/index#Merrill2024>”, Rick Merrill said: "Back in Maynard I took an editor, a floating point package and the specs for the JOHNNIAC Open Shop System (JOSS) and ideas from the Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System (MUMPS) and wrote an interpreter that would do the user's job on the spot and interactively" > Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2025 10:33:46 +0100 > From: Hans-Ulrich Hölscher <vaxorcist(a)googlemail.com <mailto:vaxorcist@googlemail.com>> > Subject: [cctalk] Re: FOCAL history > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org>> > Cc: Mike Parr <mikeparr(a)live.com <mailto:mikeparr@live.com>> > Message-ID: > <CABG6mpaVHJWhECDiuxHZQcj+GwohHqqh9=HWJR0f2ooT+0PnPQ(a)mail.gmail.com <mailto:CABG6mpaVHJWhECDiuxHZQcj+GwohHqqh9=HWJR0f2ooT+0PnPQ@mail.gmail.com>> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > Sorry, no: > BASIC 1963 > FOCAL 1968 > > Hans-Ulrich Hölscher <vaxorcist(a)googlemail.com <mailto:vaxorcist@googlemail.com>> schrieb am Mo., 13. Jan. > 2025, 10:31: > >> Isn't FOCAL older than BASIC? >> >> Mike Parr via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org>> schrieb am Mo., 13. Jan. >> 2025, 10:03: >> >>> I wondered about any influences from BASIC?

5 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0

Re: Try Algol 68 on Windows (fwd)

by Lyndon Nerenberg (VE7TFX/VE6BBM)

[Oops. Forgot to cc the list the first time.]

5 months, 3 weeks

1
0
0 0